


Rise And Rise Again (Until Lambs Become Lions)

by Sarcastic-Mess (MasterOfDisaster)



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Archery, BAMF Clint Barton, Clint Barton-centric, Family Drama, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I love the word fuck, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, MILD - Freeform, Magic, Misunderstandings, Movie: Descendants (2015), NaNoWriMo, Panic Attacks, Swearing, but it's not, clint's pov, just because I wrote 30K of this last month, kind of, talk of underage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 07:19:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 45,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12906957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MasterOfDisaster/pseuds/Sarcastic-Mess
Summary: Nearly twenty years ago all the heroes and heroines got together and managed to ban all the villains, major and not so much, on an island, the Isle of the Lost, trapping them there with no magic and a barrier that hindered everyone from leaving.At the top of the food chain three villains had carved out their space and practically ruled over everything and everyone from the highest tower on the island.The Big Bad Wolf.Rumpelstiltskin.And the Wicked Witch of the West. Even without her magic she was the most terrifying one of them all.But maybe he was biased. After all, it was his mother he was talking about.OrClint has a big heart and is the son of a villain which is not the best combination. There is a plan to destroy the Royal Rulers and their son, Steve. There may be one or two love spells involved. Together with school and the regular appearance of a thief, it has to get worse, before it gets better.





	Rise And Rise Again (Until Lambs Become Lions)

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: Someone says that they were raped in the past, but it doesn't go in detail and there is absolutely nothing graphic and it is not ever mentioned again. I just thought it should be said, just in case.
> 
> I was watching the movie and the inspiration to write an AU just hit me out of nowhere. At the time I didn't know what I was getting into, but after only writing one word here and there for a year, I wrote like 30K of this during NaNoWriMo and I am so happy I was able to finish this now. I really like this fic and I am very proud of it.
> 
> The movie is very cliché and fluffy and I'm very much in love with it. So if you're having a bad day, I highly recommend it. It's Disney Channel, though, so don't set too high standards ;)
> 
> You also don't have to have watched it to understand this. I've changed a lot of stuff to make it work and anything else is explained. So, it's a lot darker than the movie with a healthy dose of angst, but a happy ending.
> 
> I'm going to try and put in two links that lead to pictures, but it's just Jeremy Renner being hot in clothes and doesn't contribute that much to the story, though he is just nice to look at.
> 
> Also, this was supposed to go up on Friday, but it took me longer than I thought to read through the whole thing, because I am my only beta. If you spot mistakes, they are mine alone and if you want, you can tell me.
> 
> Concerning TAGS, if you feel I missed/forgot something, tell me, too, please.
> 
> As always, the movie, the characters and all that jazz do not belong to me, though some phrases you might recognize I borrowed.

Once Upon a time, in a far, far away kingdom, a long, long time ago... Okay, not that long. Anyway.

Nearly twenty years ago all the heroes and heroines got together and managed to ban all the villains, major and not so much, on an island, the Isle of the Lost, trapping them there with no magic and a barrier that hindered everyone from leaving.

A community was built, dark and screwed, but it was there. The people wouldn't have managed without it.

And at the top of the food chain three villains had carved out their space and practically ruled over everything and everyone from the highest tower on the island.

The Big Bad Wolf, now in the appearance of a man, after all magic was stripped away from him. He was still as brutal and clever as he had ever been before and many island residents still remembered from first hand experience.

Rumpelstiltskin. The one responsible for all work related things under his own volition. The harder someone worked, the more respect they would earn from the man. For a villain he was astonishingly fair and gave others the pay they deserved, as long as he got what he thought he deserved, too.

The last one was the Wicked Witch. She only needed to curl one finger and everyone around her would be doing her bidding, in fear of her wrath. Even without her magic she was the most terrifying one of them all.

But maybe he was biased. After all, it was his mother he was talking about.

~*~

“Did you steal it?”, Clint asked, just before he bit into the red apple, not actually caring if she really did.

Natasha shrugged. “Seth gave it to me for free.” Her smile said it all. She was a master manipulator and no one could ever hope to match her.

Snorting Clint offered her the apple, but kept it at her disgusted look. “Any other evil deeds?”

“Plenty. What about you? Anything that could the Wicked Witch smile genuinely?”

The familiar feeling of being not enough darkened his mood considerably and he threw the apple away, so that it hit some guy at the back of his head.

“I don't have those fucking slippers, do I? So the answer is no.”

It had always been about those slippers Dorothy had stolen. That and not being evil enough, not being wicked enough, not being commanding enough. The list went on and on and he should have accepted that he was never going to be bad enough for his mother to be proud of him, but a part of him was still irrationally fixed on it.

“Better than trying to achieve the impossible and wield magic on an island that has no magic.” There was a hint of bitterness in her voice, but it was so faint only people who really knew her would have been able to tell.

Natasha's father, Big Bad Wolf, had trained her since she could walk to be a master in manipulation and using her body to her advantage, should that be fighting or other things. His goal had always been to leave the island to get his revenge on Red Riding Hood and her husband, the Hunter, for trapping him here.

“Guys”, a voice called from below the make shift building they were sitting on top of and Clint immediately recognized the third part of their triad, their best friend James, called only Bucky, because he was supposedly bought by Rumpelstiltskin for one buck. No one had ever confirmed that story.

They got to their feet and looked over the edge to see Bucky stand there with his hands on his hips.

“There is going to be an announcement in the square. From the mainland.”

Intrigued Clint lifted up his eyebrows and exchanged a look with Natasha who looked equally interested.

As one the two took a step back from the ledge, only to rush forward and jump off the roof with a roll in the air and land neatly on their feet in front of Bucky who just clapped both of their shoulders in greeting.

The three made their way over to the market square as an united front and Clint watched the people around them cast them wary looks and even hide or walk away quickly.

Even just as the children of their parents they were feared, but in their pursuit of the praise of their parents they had done things that were the definition of evil. It was the only thing they could do.

The square was filled with every person of the island gathered to hear the first announcement that had ever happened on the island. It definitely had to be a big thing. Maybe they were given a heads-up for being completely eradicated. But that wouldn't be _good,_ now would it?

Clint leaned against a pole from one of the market stands, Natasha and Bucky on his right.

There was a guy standing on a table, overlooking them all. He wasn't dressed fancy, but it was clear at first glance that he didn't belong here at all. He raised one hand and everyone quietened down immediately and so extremely that Clint would have suspected magic, if he didn't know better.

Looking up at the Tower he could see his mother, Rumpelstiltskin and Big bad standing on the balcony, so obviously flaunting their status, it should have been pathetic, but Clint nonetheless wished she would seek him out just to see him.

Two hands on his arm made him look down and at his friends who both looked at him with an expression that showed they knew exactly what he was thinking. Quickly he looked back at the man on the table.

They had spent their whole lives together, knew each other like they knew themselves and though they never talked about it, Clint was sure the others knew how routine all the evil deeds had become and that he didn't enjoy it at all. He had seen Bucky beat up a guy who starved his children to keep the food and money to himself, and even though Bucky had said the guy had just been there when he had felt the urge to beat someone up, Clint had known better and felt not so alone anymore.

“As first proclamation Prince Steve, son of King Charming and Queen Ella, has decreed that three children living on the Isle of the Lost get the chance to go to the United States of Auradon and attend school there. Children between fifteen and eighteen are allowed. The three spots weren't predetermined. Any volunteers?”

Silence followed.

Clint could barely hold in the urge to laugh. Who in their right mind would be stupid enough to volunteer? To go to school among princes and princesses their parents had most likely fought one way or another.

He was nudged from Natasha who indicated to look up at the Tower. When he followed her directions, he immediately wished he hadn't.

The Wicked Witch pointed at him and then at the man, mouthing “Go, you stupid monkey. Go and get me those slippers.”

This was one of the rare moments when he wished that he wasn't blessed with perfect vision and that he hadn't learned how to lip read.

Sighing he pushed away from the pole and exchanged a look with his friends, before he stepped forward. His steps sounded like explosions in the silence and everyone turned to look at him. The people in front of him parted as he continued to walk forward until he stood in front of the man on the table.

“If no one else wants to.”

The man looked really relieved as he looked around. “Anyone else volunteering?”

More silence and Clint snorted quietly. Looked like he was the only idiot.

“Okay. Then we have our three transfer students. Please be back here in an hour, okay?” He hopped off the table and disappeared, before Clint could register what he had said.

With a hunch he slowly turned around to see Nat and Bucky stand there.

“What do you think you're doing?” Clint ran his hand through his hair, not quite believing what was happening.

“We are not about to let you walk into the lion's den alone”, Bucky stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“And anyway, it became too easy here on the island. I need a new challenge”, Natasha added with a flick of her air, looking like she cared less, but Clint and Bucky knew better.

“Let's face the Terrible Three, then.” Maybe this was Clint's chance to finally make his mother proud of him.

~*~

“Oh, this is the chance I've been waiting for. Dorothy won't know what hit her”, the Wicked Witch cackled as she twirled her broom around, before pointing it straight at Clint, a mad twinkle in her eyes. Her skin wasn't green anymore due to the lack of magic, but her eyes were as green as her magic had been. “And you are going to get it. Take my slippers and bring them to me and I... we're going to be free from this prison once and for all.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Bring magic back.” Rumpelstiltskin was rubbing his hands together while he skipped through the room.

“Don't disappoint us”, Big Bad told them sternly, baring his teeth as if he still had fangs.

Clint concentrated on getting his clothes packed, avoiding eye contact until there was sharp pain on his arm. Already too familiar with it, he knew without looking that it had been his mother's broom handle.

“Look at the one talking and square your shoulders. No one is going to listen to you, if you don't make them.”

“Yes, Mother.” He automatically straightened up and made eye contact, hope irrationally flaring up that she would praise him. Why was he so pathetic?

“What is your task?”, she asked as if he was five years old again.

“Get the slippers”, Clint answered.

“Bring them here”, Natasha continued, zipping up her own bag, before swinging it on her shoulder.

“Bring magic back”, Bucky finished, already standing at the door, as if he was about to bolt any second, although he would never leave behind any of them.

“Good, good.”

Manic grins were exchanged among the adults and Clint was glad to zip up his bag and see that they had to go, when he looked at the clock.

They got hits across their butts with the broom handle to make them faster, before they walked out the door and down the stairs to get back to the square. Again they didn't talk as they approached the car that was now parked there, being so obviously ignored by everyone around them that it made it just even more obvious that it was there.

The man from before was standing at the trunk of the car, body completely still except for his fingers tapping on his sleeve. He only moved when they arrived at the car to pop the trunk and stretch his hand towards them.

Clint looked at the hand for a second, not sure what he wanted, before deciding it didn't really matter and threw his bag inside the trunk. Natasha and Bucky followed his example and there was a twitch in the man's right temple, before he closed the trunk and motioned them to the back door of the car.

Natasha shot him a brilliant smile as he held the door for them, before she moved past him as closely as she could without actually touching him and hopped into the car.

Exchanging a look and an eye roll Bucky and Clint followed her inside and sprawled on the leather seats. It was like nothing Clint had ever seen or felt.

Grudgingly he admired the smooth feel under his palms until his fingers touched something hard and plastic. He looked and lifted up a small rectangle with a button on it. Scrutinizing it curiosity got the better of him and he pressed the button.

A window pane went down and revealed the driver and the front window. There were driving directly towards the broken bridge that had once connected the island with the mainland. There was nothing but water there. They couldn't cross that. They weren't slowing down.

Panic welled inside Clint and he pushed down the urge to scream as he squeezed his eyes shut. They only had seconds before they would crash into ocean and die trapped in this metal box.

Five seconds passed. Ten Seconds.

Slowly Clint opened his eyes again only to stare astonished. They were driving on a golden bridge that had appeared out of nowhere.

“Magic”, Bucky breathed out, sounding and looking as overwhelmed as Clint felt.

Clint looked down on the thing in his hand with the button, before he leaned to the little window separating them from the driver and held up the thing. “Hey. Did this button just open up the magic barrier?”

The driver turned his head a little towards him, eyes hidden by black sunglasses. “No.” He raised his left hand with a golden copy to the thing in Clint's hand. “This one opens up the magic barrier. That one opens my garage. And this one”, he added, putting down the golden button thingy and pressing a button above him in the middle of the seats causing the black window between them to raise again, dividing the parts of the car.

Clint huffed and leaned back in his seat, seeing Natasha look out of the window at the mainland, seemingly not caring at all, and Bucky smirking back at him.

“I like the guy”, they said in unison, before laughing. Natasha shook her head at them, but there was a tiny smile lurking in the corner of her mouth, so Clint called it a win.

They arrived on the mainland and drove onto a street so smooth it felt like they were flying. The trees around them were the greenest green and even the air felt brighter than on the island. Clint wasn't sure whether to like it or resent it. Even the mountains seemed even bigger and more towering.

After another few minutes they arrived at an assortment of tall stone buildings coupled with various smaller ones. There was a sign dozens of feet before the city started.

_Welcome to Auradon Prep_

_Goodness doesn't get any better_

Clint grimaced and pushed down the urge to jump out of the car just to smash the sign. Ridiculous name and slogan for a city.

The car slowed down as it approached the widest building, before it went to the right away from it, revealing a big oval garden thing with a low hedge around it and several circles with colorful bright flowers.

Then Clint noticed all the people in front of the building, holding signs with _Welcome!_ written on them, laughing and grinning and waving at them. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he really didn't want to get out of the car.

Clint looked at the others who wore similar stony expressions and sighed.

The driver stopped the car and got out of it. Bucky quickly opened the door for them, letting Natasha go first.

Clint followed them out, squinting at the sun and stepped up next to Bucky, observing the small group approaching them from the way between the flowers. In the front was a slim woman in her late thirties, brown hair pulled into a braid and wearing a blue and white outfit Clint didn't have a name for.

“Welcome to Auradon Prep School”, she greeted, spreading her arms as if to encompass everything they were seeing which was weird.

“This building is the school?”, Clint asked and she smiled at him indulgently.

“Everything you see is Auradon Prep School, dear. I'm Dorothy, headmistress.”

“Dorothy? The Dorothy?”, Natasha asked interested, looking completely innocent.

Glancing down Clint found only boring black shoes and not the red ones Mother had always talked about. Of course it wouldn't be this easy.

“Yes, and these are...” She paused as she turned slightly, drawing attention to the two people who had approached with her. They looked to be around the same age.

The taller one of them had neat bright blond hair, a wide smile and blue eyes.

The other one was about Clint's height, slicked back black hair and sharp blue eyes. He wasn't smiling, just looking at them assessing. Clint immediately felt uncomfortable towards him.

“It's so good to meet you. I'm Steve”, the taller one started, but was immediately interrupted by the other one.

“Prince. Prince Steve, son of King Charming and Queen Ella, soon to be King.” It sounded condescending and Clint straightened his shoulders immediately. He was definitely ready to go at it, if it came to it. The guy looked like Clint could snap him in half with his bare hands.

Steve's smile didn't disappear, but it became a little forced. Interesting.

“And I am Prince Loki, son of King Eric and Queen Ariel”, he added with a slimy smile and his eyes wandered over the three's clothing with visible disgust.

“You are?”, Steve prompted, when they just stayed silent.

They looked at each other and agreed without words how they were going to do this. It was moments like this Clint was glad for who his friends were.

“I'm Natasha and these are Bucky and Clint. We don't know our parents. We've been orphans our whole lives.” She sounded like it wasn't a big deal, but with an edge of vulnerability that made Dorothy look at them all pitying and soft.

“We're very happy to welcome you. I hope you will enjoy your stay here”, Steve told them, looking at all three of them equally, before returning back to Clint. “If there is anything you need or any questions you have, you can come to me.” Those blue eyes did something to Clint he couldn't quite identify. He would have to stay away from this guy in particular.

“Thank you”, Natasha said, placing a hand on Steve's arm to look up at him with an adoring look. Making the Prince like her was definitely smart.

Clint used the distraction to go to the trunk of the car and get their bags out. He threw one to Bucky and kept the other two for himself, before approaching Dorothy who smiled warmly at him which he labeled as ironic deep in his mind.

“Can I ask you something? If it's not too forward?”

“Oh, of course, dear.” She saw him as a helpless kid. Good.

“You know that the Wicked Witch of the West is on the Island, right?” He watched her face go a little darker at the name. “Every time she is around she always talks about a pair of slippers you supposedly stole? I guess, I am curious. But you don't need to tell me anything about it. Forget I asked. It was rude.”

“No, no.” She stopped him from leaving with a smile. “It's completely understandable. Asking questions is good. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Yes, I have a pair of slippers that had once belonged to her sister. I found them and kept them, when I discovered the Wicked Witch wanted to use them for evil. They're in The Museum of Cultural History now together with several other magical artifacts. There is a school trip there in a couple of weeks, I believe.”

Clint smiled at her. “Thank you for telling me.”

“Oh, aren't you adorable? I let you go get settled in your rooms.” She turned and left, talking with Loki on her way back into the building.

As soon as she had turned around, Clint dropped the smile and shook his head. That had been too easy.

Bucky stepped up next to him and bumped their shoulders together. “And?”

Looking over to Natasha and Steve who were still talking he made sure no one could hear them. “Slippers are in some museum. We have to figure out where it is and how to get in without anyone knowing.”

“You think this will help?”, Bucky asked and reached into his inner jacket pocket, before pulling out a black book with a green broom on the cover. Clint felt elated and terrified to see it.

“You stole Mother's spell book?”, he hissed, grabbing it instinctively to hide it from sight. The moment he touched it a tingle went up his fingers and he gasped.

“There is no magic on the Island. We can put it to better use than your mother plotting a plan that will never happen.” Bucky shrugged, apparently not noticing anything strange.

“Fine”, he said, stuffing the book into his waistband as he saw Natasha and Steve approaching. It felt like it was burning a hole into his side. “We'll talk about it later.”

“Ready?”, Steve asked them and then gestured to follow him, when they nodded. Natasha walked beside him, while Clint and Bucky were trailing behind.

“Auradon Prep”, he started, pointing up at the building they were heading for. “Built over three hundred years and converted into a High School by my father, when he became King.” He continued to talk, but Clint tuned him out as his eyes wandered from Steve's wide shoulders to the healthy looking bushes and the stone walls, looking for advantages and exits automatically.

They stepped into a lavish decorated foyer, stairs leading up left and right and with banners in red and blue colors hanging around. It was weird.

Steve stopped and waved towards another guy was leaning against the stairs, holding a clipboard and talking to three girls who were giggling at whatever he was saying.

“Tony”, the Prince called, rolling his eyes. Tony perked up, winked at the girls and then sauntered over. His brown hair was completely disheveled, his lips held a self-confident smirk and his brown eyes were definitely intelligent.

“Well, hello”, he greeted them, eyes sweeping over the guys to linger on Natasha who smiled politely “Tony, at your service.” He bowed over Natasha's hand and stopped short of giving her a kiss on the back of her hand.

“Tony, these are Natasha, Bucky and Clint. Guys, Tony will show you your rooms and get you settled with your lockers, schedules and such okay? But if you have any questions, you can always come to me, okay?” Steve was looking at Clint again who frowned back at him, while shifting away. No getting attached. He had a mission to fulfill.

When Steve was finally gone, Tony flipped through the papers on his clipboard.

“Alright, I've put in the requirements already. History of Pirates and Woodsmen, Safety rules in the Internet and Remedial Goodness 101.” He chuckled as he said it and Clint looked at him confused.

“Remedial Goodness?” How many people did they force to accept their ways? How many did they think did not fit in their world? Clint felt a little sick at that.

“New class. They didn't know who would come over and some kids have really nasty parents. Wicked Witch for example.” Tony just shrugged and Clint forced himself not to react. At least it was better than what he had thought.

“What's that Internet thing?”, Bucky asked and Natasha and Clint looked at Tony expectant who laughed loud and hard, until he noticed that they weren't laughing with him.

“You're joking, right?” He looked horrified, when they shook their heads. “Oh, that is just cruel. You have a lot coming, my friends.”

Tony then got them into their rooms. Bucky and Clint were able to share, but Natasha was put into a room with another girl they would have to meet later. He also gave them a list of optional classes they got to choose from immediately, so that he could get the lists back to the teachers.

Nothing really seemed like anything Clint would be interested in. Half of it he didn't even know what it was. So he just picked it at random. It wasn't like he planned to stick around long enough for it to matter.

“Biology, Archery and Poetry?”, Tony asked him as he saw what he choose. He had his eyebrows raised at him in completely bewilderment and Clint crossed his arms, frowning.

“You got a problem with that?”

“No, no. Of course not. I let you get settled and get these to the people. Right? Right. See you later.” And he bolted out of the room as fast as possible.

Clint huffed and threw himself on one of the beds, before pulling out his mother's spell book.

“Do you have any idea what you picked?”, Bucky asked, sitting down on the foot of the bed Clint was laying on.

“No. You?”

“Not a clue.”

They exchanged a grin, before Clint went flipping through the book.

“This is the first time I'm holding it in my hands. I don't even know how you got it. She is so protective of it.”

“She was hiding it under her mattress. I snatched it up, when I was packing my bag. It was actually pretty easy.”

“She will kill you, when we come back.”

Bucky snorted. “We will have the slippers with us. She won't care about anything but that.”

Clint's mood darkened immediately. “Yeah, true.”

“And of course that you got them to her”, Bucky added and Clint smiled at him for the effort, but they both knew it was a pipe dream, Clint couldn't help but chasing. Why he still believed that someday his mother would be proud of him, he really couldn't say.

After another couple of pages he found something called Location Spell. He grinned and sat up to show it to Bucky who read through it quickly and then clapped his hand on Clint's shoulder.

“Perfect. Good job. Let's find Natasha.”

~*~

Natasha's room was all white and pink colours and Clint forced down the laughter that wanted to escape at the sight of her murderous expression.

“We found a way to find the slippers”, he announced and held up the spell book at the right page for her to see.

“Is that...”

“Yep. Stole it, before we left.”

“Idiot”, she told him, but she also sounded impressed and Bucky smirked.

“I'm not sure if we can even do magic, but it's definitely worth a try. The best time would be tonight, wouldn't it?”, Clint asked to get back on track. He really didn't want to go to classes the next day.

“Agreed”, they both nodded, just before the door to the room opened and a girl stepped inside, freezing at the sight of them with a startled expression.

“Oh, hey. You must be Natasha. Tony told me I would be sharing a room with you. I'm Pepper.” She held out her hand for Nat to shake and then turned to the boys. “And you must be the other two that came over.”

“I'm Clint. This is Bucky.” He even gave her a slight smile. The more people they had on their side, the better.

“It's really nice to meet you. I was just going to pick something up and then go to dinner. You want to go together?”

“That's sounds great. I'm afraid we didn't even know it was dinner time. Even less how to get there.” Natasha smiled brightly, fake as it got. She even went as far as link their arms as their walked down the corridor, Bucky and Clint trailing behind with bemused expressions. If anyone suspected they weren't who they had said they were, they would immediately hone in on Natasha as the mastermind and completely disregard Bucky and Clint. While it suited their plans just fine, it was funny, considering Clint and Bucky were usually the ones making the plans and Natasha was the one executing them with improvisation.

The dinner was in a hall with the highest ceiling Clint had ever seen and he had to force himself not to stare. There was food on every single table and just the sheer amount was staggering.

They were noticed by Tony who jumped up and waved them over. He pulled out chairs for Pepper and Natasha and let the other two fend for themselves. There were already a couple of people at the table and everyone was smiling at them. It gave Clint the creeps.

“Let me introduce everyone”, Tony started and gestured around the table. “You know me, Pepper and Steve. And these are Bruce, Sam and Rhodey.” He grinned brightly in response to the exasperated look Rhodey was giving him at that. “Guys, the lovely Natasha and her friends Cliff and Burt.”

“Bucky”, Bucky corrected with an annoyed expression, while Clint just smirked. “And this is Clint.”

“So, you're from the Isle of the Lost? How is it, living over there?”, Sam asked as they all piled food on their plates. Clint didn't know if it was just him, but besides the mass of food he also wasn't sure what exactly some of those things were, so he was wary to get anything he didn't know.

“Nothing like this”, Natasha answered, appearing completely in her element. “This place is so different. We're very grateful we were given the chance to come over.”

“All thanks to our gracious Prince”, Tony laughed, clapping one hand on Steve's shoulders that was shaken off immediately.

“It's nothing. Everyone deserves an education. I just wish Mother and Father had allowed more than three.” He sounded genuinely upset about it, but Clint couldn't believe he was that much of a good person.

“Don't sweat it. We were the only ones who volunteered. The others probably didn't want to go to school with the people their parents fought.” And now everyone was looking at him. Why was he even talking to these people?

“And you don't mind?”, Steve asked, looking straight at him and Clint really wanted to hit himself. What happened to staying away from the guy?

“Our parents are dead and we don't know who they were, so it doesn't really matter.” He shrugged and then concentrated on his food, while Natasha pulled the others' attention onto herself with little effort. Clint didn't even hear what they were talking about.

He was nearly finished with his food, when something hit his right shoulder from behind him. He automatically looked and saw a collapsed can land on the ground and a group of guys snicker a couple of tables away.

“Ignore them”, Bucky told him from next to him and Clint really had no intention of doing anything else, but he wondered. Back on the island, no one dared to act anything but respectful towards them. This was a new experience.

A couple minutes later footsteps were audible behind him and one guy stopped directly next to Clint who ignored them pointedly.

“Hey”, he said condescendingly. “You're the kids from the island, aren't you? The villains?”

“Walk away, Lester”, Rhodey told them tiredly and Lester sneered at him, before looking back at Clint.

“Go back home. Villains are not welcome here.”

“Are you the King?”, Clint asked innocently, leaning back in his chair, looking relaxed, but ready to spring into action any second.

Lester looked like he couldn't believe Clint had asked that. “Obviously not.”

“Then are you the Prince?”

He sighed and looked like he was suffering. “No. Are you an idiot?”

“Then perhaps the Queen?” Clint smirked up at him, when Lester seemed to understand Clint was making fun of him and started to glare. “I think not. So you have no authority whatsoever to tell me what to do. If that's all, move along. I really don't want to look at you any more than I already have.” Clint turned away from him and discovered Steve hiding a smirk behind his hand and Tony laughing out in the open, while the others looked approvingly.

“Who do you think you are?”, Lester snarled, grabbing Clint by his shirt and pulling him to his feet. He was slightly taller than Clint, but not that intimidating to begin with.

“I am the guy who can kick your ass”, Clint fired back, smirking and getting into Lester's personal space.

“Try, villain, and we'll see who gets the happy ending.”

“Original”, Clint scoffed. “I have heard better comebacks from a five year old.”

Lester's face was slowly turning red with anger and he looked about to punch Clint, when someone approached them from the side.

Clint looked over to see who it was and then felt more than saw that Lester was swinging his fist at Clint. Ducking the blow he twisted out of the way and tripped the other boy up without looking. Lester fell to the floor with an undignified squeak causing everyone around to have witnessed it to chuckle, if not even laugh in Tony's case.

The person who had approached them cleared their throat and Clint looked over again to finally really see them. A man in his thirties, wearing fancy looking black pants and a dark green button down shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His dark brown hair was somehow neat, but windswept at the same time. He was also sporting a beard that looked more like he didn't bother to shave instead of a style choice. Despite the lack of smile his gray-blue eyes seemed amused. His posture was confident, relaxed, but still alert.

“And what is going on here?”

Lester got himself off the ground clumsily, his cheeks red from maybe embarrassment or anger. His lips were tightly pressed together.

“Why?”, Clint asked, putting his hands into his pockets. He was certain the man had seen everything, so there was no need to ask. It could be the man was stupid, but Clint doubted it somehow.

One corner of the man's mouth quirked upwards, barely noticeable to the average eye. “I don't believe we have met. Robin Hood”, he announced and offered Clint his hand to shake. As if they were equals rather than an adult talking to a child.

Clint hesitated for a moment, before taking it. “Clint. You're the thief?”

There was a choked off laugh behind him, but he didn't turn to see who it was as he continued to look at Hood who looked openly amused now.

“I wouldn't call myself a thief. More a relocater of useful things.”

Clint raised his eyebrows at the answer, not very impressed.

“But I see where you're coming from. Now.” He looked at Lester and something in his expression was uncomfortably familiar. Parental disappointment. “Does one of you two want to explain what was happening?”

The smaller of the two pushed his hands back into his pockets and rocked back on the heels of his feet, head held high, not trying to hide anything. Lester, on the contrary, slumped into himself and was staring at the ground, as if he was expecting a scolding and was already bracing himself for it.

“But you saw what happened”, Clint said, making Hood look back at him. “Lester here came over from his table and we talked. He explained something on the schedule for me. I don't really understand all this yet, you know. Then you came over.”

Hood had a look in his eyes that said he knew exactly what Clint was doing, but Clint didn't cave and they stayed in a staring contest. Lester was shifting beside him uncomfortably and the whole dining hall seemed to hold their breath. Clint wasn't sure how long it went on, but after a while Hood smiled and nodded.

“Then I guess I will be on my way. Have a nice evening”, he added, addressing all of them, before he turned and walked away. Lester quickly went back over to his own friends and Clint sat down, receiving smiles and grins from around the table.

“You, my friend, deserve a goddamn medal”, Tony proclaimed, throwing his arms wide, nearly knocking over a glass that only Rhodey's fast reflexes saved. He looked like he did that often.

“It wasn't a big deal. Lester doesn't come close to some people on the island.”

“Pfff, Lester who? I mean Robin Hood with his stare! The legendary stare that makes all his rivals cower in fear, makes everyone who is a subject to it spill all their secrets after mere seconds. You held off for over a minute!”

Clint didn't really see what the big deal was and what Tony said sounded ridiculous. Hood wasn't particularly intimidating, but maybe a lifelong exposure to his mother and Rumpelstiltskin had made him somewhat immune to others.

“Well, it has been a long day for us”, Natasha said and got up from the table and Clint and Bucky copied her. “We're going to turn in. See you tomorrow.”

They received similar sentiments, before they made their way back to Clint and Bucky's room where they sat down on one of the beds and pulled out the spell book. For a couple of moments they just stared at the Location Spell, not sure where to begin. They had never seen actual magic before they had crossed the magical bridge to get here, but Clint believed it would work. It had to.

“Concentrate on the slippers”, Clint told them, before taking a deep breath. “ _Without delay, show us the object of our desire's way._ ” There was a shiver that ran through Clint's body and then a ball of light, a mix of purple, red and ice blue, appeared in the middle of them and began to fly towards the door.

The three exchanged astonished, but elated looks before hurrying to follow the light, before it disappeared. They didn't speak on the way and Clint filled the time by thinking about his mother and that they were so close to finally proving themselves to their parents, to make them proud of their children.

The museum was a good while away and the sun had already disappeared behind the mountains when they finally reached it. The light lead them around the building that looked like it had been a castle on its own at some point and towards a side entrance. The door had glass embedded in it, so it was easy to look through and see the monitors facing them with a guard in front of it sitting in a chair and idling around.

Clint exchanged looks with his friends, conveying without words how stupid this set up was. Who in their right mind thought putting the surveillance directly in plain view of the door was a good idea?

Quickly flipping through the spell book in hopes that there was anything in there that could help them, he found a sleeping spell close to the end of the book. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the feeling that had overcome him when they had done the Location Spell.

“ _Do it sudden, do it now. Send my enemy off to sleep anyhow.”_ The moment the words left his mouth, the same shiver ran through Clint's body and he watched in awe as the guards yawned and stretched, before settling his head on his folded arms on the table.

Natasha grabbed the door handle and pulled, but nothing happened. It was locked.

“I can probably kick it open”, Bucky offered, but Natasha shook her head.

“Too loud and obvious. We want to get in and out without anyone knowing we were even here.” She looked at Clint who sighed and flipped through the book again until he found a spell for unlocking stuff.

“ _Make it easy, make it quick. Open up without a kick._ ”

The double doors swung open silently and Clint grinned. Magic was awesome.

Silently they made their way inside and looked for the light, but it was already nowhere to be seen. So instead they looked at the signs and followed them. _Gallery of the Heroes_. What a tacky name.

A rose, glass slippers, a fork, an obscenely long golden braid and there, at the far end of the room, levitating above a pedestal, a pair of sparkling and ruby red slippers.

“Fuck yes”, Bucky said and rushed forward, leaning against the railing separating the pedestal from the rest of the room. He reached forward intending to grab the shoes and Clint only saw a flash of blue, before Bucky was thrown back through the air, nearly hitting Clint and Natasha as an alarm blared to life, nearly deafening Clint.

“A force field _and_ an alarm?”, Natasha shouted at them, only barely audible. “What overkill.”

“Come on”, Clint shouted back, tugging at them to get moving, before they broke into a sprint to get out of the building as fast as possible.

They barely managed not to run into the guard that had apparently woke up and went to investigate, before they were out and continued to run all the way back to the school. School.

“Fuck”, Clint cursed, coming to a stop in the entrance hall, trying to catch his breath. “It looks like we need to go to classes tomorrow.”

The other two groaned in unison and Clint couldn't agree more.

~*~

Breakfast was as bizarre as dinner had been. Tony got them to sit down with him and his friends again, flirting with Natasha who rebuffed him and focused on charming Steve instead who was friendly, but didn't even seem to notice that she was flirting with him. Idiot.

Ignoring everyone at the table Clint concentrated on eating breakfast and trying to figure out a way to bypass the force field without triggering an alarm. Maybe there was a spell in the book for that, but he didn't let his hopes get too high.

“You know, it is such good thing that you get to be here now. Steve is turning eighteen soon and there is going to be a big party.” Pepper turned specifically to Natasha and smiled conspiratorially. “Which means there is plenty of time to show you everything there is to know about the Royal Court, though it _is_ ninety per cent dresses and gossip.”

“Don't forgot the coronation before that”, Sam added and bumped Steve's and his shoulders together with a chuckle. “All to celebrate you, buddy.”

Steve pulled a face. “I rather it didn't happen at all. We could be using the time in a much better fashion than this silly display.”

“They want to honor you”, Pepper said and sipped her coffee.

“You all know as well as I do that it is only an excuse to party and show off everything that is in the _Gallery of the Heroes_.”

Clint startled at the mention and quickly straightened up to investigate, but Natasha was already on it.

“What is that?” She was sitting opposite of Steve to keep herself in his sights and gave him her most clueless look.

“My parents thought it was a good idea to take artifacts out of the museum and display them at the celebrations. You know, like the wand of the Fairy Godmother will be used to bless me or something.” Steve sighed. “Even the two pair of slippers will be there in some way.”

The ruby slippers were going to be at the coronation? Coupled with the wand that could probably take down the barrier that was preventing magic on Isle, it sounded like everything they needed.

“Is there a way we can attend? We would love to see all that. There is nothing even similar on the Isle.” It was the first thing Clint had said all morning and every pair of eyes turned to look at him.

“Of course.” Steve was smiling brightly again. “The whole school is invited.”

“Did you decide who to take as your date yet?” Rhodey earned a glare from Steve for that.

“Oh come on. Every single person wants you to take them and see everything happening from up close.”

“And I told you, _several times,_ I'm not dating anyone, so there is no one to take.”

Clint exchanged looks with Bucky and Nat. That sounded like a challenge and an opportunity all wrapped up with a neat little bow. He suppressed a grin.

It was time for Nat to step up her game and snatch herself a royal boyfriend.

~*~*~*~

Their first class was an utter waste of time. Not only didn't it bring them any closer to getting the slippers and the wand (which they had decided they also needed to destroy the magic barrier), but it was also absolute nonsense.

Clint, Nat and Bucky had sat down at a table meant for two in an otherwise completely empty classroom, so they were all sitting close to each other, but they didn't mind. They had been in tighter spots together, literally and figuratively.

Remedial Goodness 101 was taught by the Fairy Godmother herself, a plum woman wearing a light blue dress and a conservative hairstyle. She held her pointer in her hands like it was a wand and she talked to them like they were little kids.

“If someone hands you a crying baby”, she started again slowly, pointing at each word with her pointer. “Do you, A, curse it? B, lock it in a tower? C, give it a bottle?” She moved her arms as if she was holding a baby in them that she was rocking back and forth. “Or D, carve out its heart?”

Clint refused to participate in this farce. They might have been raised surrounded by criminals and might not been up to Auradon's standards in concerns of morality, but they weren't stupid. Even if he believed that _harming a baby_ was the right thing to do, he could just read the Fairy's body language or even just her expression and pass this class with flying colours.

Natasha was answering nearly every question, correctly of course, making herself the new favorite student and the Fairy Godmother was ecstatic. She probably had absolute no idea that she was getting played big time.

With a noiseless sigh Clint slouched down farther in his seat, sadly earning the teacher's attention.

“How about you answer this one, Clint? It's okay if you don't get it right.” Patronizing and belittling.

He didn't answer right away, just let his eyes wander over the board as if he had to think about it. Natasha's next class was English with Steve where she would try to get something going more effectively than until now. Bucky had Business and Clint had to go to the gardens for archery, though he thought everything was taught in stuffy classrooms like this. If it turned out like this, he was just going to break into the museum and steal it, damn the complications. “C, give it a bottle.”

The surprise on her face was insulting and his hatred for this whole thing grew. “Very good.”

The bell rang and the three gathered their supplies that had been oh so generously given to them into just as donated bags. The Fairy Godmother called something after them, but Clint didn't bother to listen.

“Knock him off his feet”, Bucky told Natasha who grinned and flipped her hair back.

“Who do you think I am? See ya later.”

They all parted as they had to go in different directions and Clint ignored the stares and whispers he got as he moved around.

The gardens behind the building were completely empty and Clint sighed. He didn't get it wrong, he was sure, but he still pulled out his schedule again and checked it. Yeah, there it was. _Archery. Meeting in the Gardens behind Building A._ Either Tony was messing with him or the class had been moved without anyone telling Clint. It wasn't like he minded much, but he didn't know what would happen if Auradon thought they weren't fit to be helped and send them back to the Isle of the Lost. Then his mother would... He didn't even want to think about it.

“Good. You're here.” Robin Hood practically appeared out of thin air and Clint's whole body locked up, instead of flinching, giving nothing away. “The range is this way. I thought it would be easier to meet here and walk over together.”

The range. Was the class something with animals? Though he couldn't imagine Hood teach anything in that direction.

They walked in silence, though Clint watched Hood as much as Hood watched Clint.

A long flat building appeared around some bushes and Hood entered it first. There was a room with all kinds of stuff, nearly everything Clint had no words for, but another door led to a kind of wooden terrace that had a roof. It was about sixty feet long and fifteen in depth. It led to a long stretch of grass with hay balls on which circles were painted on at the far end. A white circle surrounding them all, then black, blue, red and the middle was yellow.

A small group of seven kids stood on the wood, all huddled together, familiar and comfortable with each other.

Lester was the first one to spot him and he shook his head with a grimace. “Hell no. You shouldn't be in this class. Someone like you shouldn't have access to a weapon.”

“Oh the feeling is mutual”, Clint mumbled, thinking of all the knives he had brought with him to Auradon, but he otherwise just stared back impassively, while Hood cleared his throat pointedly.

Anger and embarrassment made Lester's cheeks flush and he looked ready to try his luck again with his fists, but he stayed where he was and his friends sneered at Clint when Hood turned his back.

“We're not going to do anything new today, so just go ahead and fetch your bows and start practicing.” Hood turned to Clint with a friendly expression. “You can put your bag against the side and change into something more comfortable if you want.”

There was a small pile with the stuff of the others against the wall and Clint placed his own a bit away from it.

“This is fine, though.” He gestured to his black jeans, gray t-shirt and the purple jacket that was so dark it looked black most of the time. All his clothes were well worn and slightly ripped though he took good care of them.

“You have to lose the jacket. It will restrict your movement.” Hood had gotten two things from the room. A bucket with sticks with feather things on one hand which were sticking out and something curved with a string that looked like a crooked D.

Reluctantly Clint shrugged off his jacket and draped it over his bag. Hood had placed the bucket on the ground near the grass.

“You ever used a bow?”

A bow. So that's what that was. Clint had never seen one before, but he had heard of them in the stories around Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. They had all been destroyed or hidden away on the Isle and so had become as non existent as magic. Guess it made sense for Hood to teach it as a class.

Clint shook his head, though he really wanted to try it.

“Alright. Are you right or left handed?” He pulled something black out from the bucket.

“Right”, Clint answered because most people were right handed and it was normal. He would only stand out even more if he said he was ambidextrous.

Hood reached for Clint's left arm and he automatically moved away, tensing and they had a couple of seconds of stale mate where they just stared at each other.

The other kids were chatting a bit away, using their bows but Clint couldn't watch them actively. Hood was the threat.

“It's an arm guard”, Hood explained calmly like nothing was going on. “It goes on your non dominant forearm to protect it against the string. See?” He put it onto his own arm, showing how to fasten the straps, before handing it over holding it at the utmost edge.

Not daring to hesitate Clint grabbed the guard and strapped it on. It felt weird and while it wasn't tight it felt more restricting than his jacket had.

“This is not a practice bow. So if it's too hard I can get you one of those. They are easier to handle.” There was no way Clint was going to do that. “Your fingers go here and you stretch your arm to the side with your feet firmly like this.” He demonstrated, ignoring how Clint had reacted, then he handed it over.

The second Clint's fingers curled around the grip and he put his body in the right stance he felt like he was coming home. The only thing hampering the moment was the eyes he could feel on his back.

“Good. Now use your right forefinger and middle finger to pull back the string in as much as a straight line as you can. A little higher. Yeah, there.” Hood's eyes felt even heavier on him than the other students'. “Just like that. Now, pull your fingers away. Let the string bounce back on its own.”

It snapped forward and against the arm guard with a loud sound that had Clint blink once in surprise.

He tilted his left hand so that the grip was lower than the rest of the bow automatically and Hood nodded with a smile that looked somewhat satisfied.

“Do that a couple times. Go through the motions. I'm going to check on the others.” Hood stepped around Clint who watched him to make sure, because although he had a pretty good awareness of who was around him most of the time, Robin Hood seemed like he was going to be the exception.

Clint followed the instructions, moved out of the stance completely and into it a couple of times. The string didn't hit the guard every time and it felt like his movements became more fluid with each time.

When he glanced over to the others Lester was letting that stick thing (must be an arrow) loose and it flew at the colored circles hitting the blue ring on the right. Hood said something and judging from Lester's expression it wasn't complimentary. Then Hood moved on to one of the girls, said something and stepped up behind her when she shook her head. His hands moved her arms and shoulders a bit talking the whole time.

Clint quickly looked away before anyone noticed and went through the motions again, though it didn't seem enough. He had seen the others do it, so he just grabbed an arrow from the bucket and drew the string back with it on. The arrow had to go in the middle of the circle and he was not standing on the right angle. He stepped back a bit, feeling the muscles he was using and his thoughts quietened down in a way they had never had before.

He let go of the string and the arrow flew and hit the target with a solid thud. It was exactly on the line separating yellow and red. Lowering the bow he only then noticed the absolute quiet behind him and he turned.

Everyone was staring at him. Some with surprise and jealousy, Lester also with anger and Hood looked intrigued.

“Are you sure you never shot a bow before?”, Hood asked and moved back towards Clint. “You have some real talent.”

Lester looked like he was ready to murder Clint and his next shot was aggressive and didn't even hit the target.

“The Sheriff burned them all.”

A dark expression flitted over Hood's face for a split second, before it vanished again behind his usual one. “Shoot another one. I want to see.” He moved around in a way that allowed him to stay clear if the arrow was going off course, but also put him where Clint could see him. Clint refused to think it was Hood being weirdly considerate on purpose.

This time it still felt natural, but he felt too aware of his movements, of Hood's attention on him.

The arrow hit the yellow part, but closer to red than the middle.

His fingers itched to pull the arm guard off.

Hood hummed while he seemed to be thinking. “Get your elbow a bit closer to your body and try again. Otherwise your form is already pretty good.”

Not saying a word Clint snatched up another arrow and tucked his elbow in further, but it felt weird and when he let the arrow loose it only hit the red. Still better than most of Lester's attempts, but not satisfying.

“Mister Hood”, one of the other guys called over, before Hood could comment and he smiled and nodded.

“Just continue for a bit. Get familiar with the bow and the technique. I'll check on you in a bit.” For a second it looked like he was about to place a hand on Clint's shoulder, but when Clint's grip on the bow tightened and he tensed, ready to act, Hood lowered his hand again and just walked to the others.

Clint refused to watch him and began to shoot arrow after arrow, trying his first stance and the one Hood wanted and even different ones to see what worked, but while all of them made him hit red or yellow it wasn't perfect.

“Hey.” Lester had approached, a bow in his hands that had scratches all over it. “Don't think you're some hot shot now.” He got into Clint's personal space using the barely there height difference as a tool to intimidate and failing. Again. “You should have never come here. We have no place for some evil kid who only brings trouble.”

“The only trouble I see is you”, Clint replied casually, noting all the weak spots Lester was exposing. “Especially with those shots. Have _you_ done this before?”

Lester's face flushed red again and it must be exhausting for his body that his blood was moving so quickly all over the place again and again. “Listen here you little shit. You really don't want me as an enemy. I have all the power here.”

 _This guy would never survive the Isle,_ Clint thought. It wasn't even the inability to control his emotions. It was just the total lack of observation skill on top of that.

There was a moment of silence where Clint contemplated how to play it. The sounds of the others and of arrows hitting the targets were background noise.

He could easily take Lester down physically, teach him a lesson. His words probably wouldn't do any good with that temper. Or he could give in, play the weak victim, let Lester believe he had the upper hand.

“Okay. Okay, I understand.” Clint hunched his shoulders a little. “You're the boss.”

The idiot looked pleased with himself and like he had absolute no suspicion Clint was playing him. “Good. Make sure to remember that.” And with that he strode back to his spot.

Clint shook his head and then noticed that while Hood was talking with one of the other students his eyes flicked into Lester's and Clint's direction. Clint didn't acknowledge it at all and went back to shooting the bow for the rest of the lesson.

No one bothered him again until Hood announced for everyone to put their bows away and go collect their arrows.

“If you want you can keep that one as the bow to use in the future, but you can also try others next time.”

“I'll think about it.” Though he doubted any others could feel better in his hands.

Clint was the last one to put away his bow and as he turned to go back he noticed a schedule taped to the wall when and who would occupy the range. He quickly memorized it.

It took a bit under ten minutes to gather up all the arrows and get them back to their place. Clint made sure he wasn't the last one this time so that no one was getting close to his stuff without an excuse.

Frustratingly Clint couldn't tell whether the fact that Hood didn't talk to him again was because he didn't want to or because the opportunity didn't present itself.

The crowds led him back towards the mess hall where Nat, Steve and Pepper were already sitting and chatting, looking cheerful, though there was a slight tightness to Nat's shoulders that probably only Clint and Bucky would be able to see.

“Hey”, Clint greeted and earned two bright smiles from the Auradon raised and a warm one from Nat though she shook her head in the slightest of movements. No luck in seducing Steve then. Maybe they could think of another strategy later.

“How was your class?”, Natasha asked, moving her foot over to hook around his under the table, grounding him and herself.

“Got to shoot a bow. It was okay.”

She raised one eyebrow at the (for him) glowing praise and he was sure she would inquire more in that vein later.

“You have archery? Lester is in that class, isn't he?” Pepper had a slight frown on her forehead and Steve copied her.

“Did he give you any trouble? Because I can talk to him.”

Right. Cause that's what Clint needed. A prince to speak on his behalf who looked like he wasn't even capable of hurting a fly.

Clint was about to _politely_ decline the offer when he noticed Bucky enter the room, Tony at his side who was moving his hands and talking about something. Bucky's face was neutral, but his body was tilted towards Tony, giving him all the attention. The edges of his mouth were pressed together to suppress a fond smile and he subtly steered Tony through the people so that he wouldn't bump into anyone.

A tug on his foot and a glance over to Natasha told him she had noticed too. It seemed that they apparently had to talk about a lot when they had a chance to be alone.

Which they didn't get until way later in the day. First there were more classes that Clint didn't really bother pay attention to, then Pepper and Tony showed them around all the buildings which was actually helpful, but the constant upholding of a jovial nature was exhausting even as Natasha pulled the attention onto her as much as possible. Clint just wanted to be done with it.

After dinner Clint, Natasha and Bucky finally retreated into the boys' room where they wouldn't be disturbed and made a bit of a pile on Clint's bed.

For five minutes they just laid there, enjoying the quiet and the presence of their friends. Natasha was in the middle, head pillowed on Bucky's shoulder while her legs were tangled with Clint's who in turn was Bucky's pillow and was slowly carding his fingers through Nat's hair.

“What happened with Steve?”, Clint finally broke the silence nudging Nat's legs a little who sighed.

“I managed to get the seat next to him in English and he was friendly.” She paused for the tiniest of moments. “Respectful, but not different than he treats Pepper. I used every trick I know. I think he realized what I was doing at some point, but there was absolute no reaction.”

“There is still time”, Bucky said, but he didn't sound too convinced. Normally Natasha had anyone cracked in much less time than what had already passed.

“What about you, Bucky? Learn anything?”

“Tony is basically in all of my classes. He talks a lot, revealed a lot about all the teachers and other students. He also has very good grades. That could be helpful.”

For a second Clint debated whether to say it. “You like him.” It was a statement, lacking any accusing notes.

“He is useful”, Bucky protested, though it was futile. They all knew it, but didn't push it.

“If seducing Steve is no longer viable, what options do we have?” Clint knew it wouldn't be many.

“Find out as much as we can about the coronation and strike there.”

“Too many guards. Too many things to go wrong”, Natasha argued. “Let's find a way around the museum's security and steal them as soon as possible.”

Biting his bottom lip Clint stared at the ceiling. Something was nagging him. Something he should remember.

...

 _Oh._ “We're idiots.” Clint pushed the two off him who looked at each other confused while he leaned over the edge of the bed to get to his bag. After a couple of seconds he pulled out his mother's spell book. “Let's find something to use in this.” After all, they were the only ones who had magic in Auradon.

This time Clint was in the middle as they huddled over the spell book looking for anything that might help without actually knowing what they were looking for.

Some spells Clint couldn't imagine his mother mother doing and others he could imagine only too well. It was moments like these, where Clint wasn't able to understand his mother's intentions that he felt like a failure. A failure to be the evil, to be the villain she always wanted.

He shoved it all to the side like he did every time.

After a spell that could turn someone into their animal form they found what they needed.

“A love spell”, Clint whispered and they all quickly read through the ingredients, how to perform and how it worked.

“It's perfect”, Bucky said and Nat nodded.

 _Perfect in taking away Steve's choice and get really familiar with their dark side._ Maybe Clint was the only on thinking it, maybe he wasn't, but no one mentioned it and Clint ignored the voice inside his head that was his irritated conscience.

“We can use the kitchen meant for the classes.”

“And I think I can get all the ingredients that we won't find there.”

“Even the tear?”, Bucky questioned Nat who smirked.

“Especially the tear.”

“Then it's settled.” Clint marked the place of the spell in the book and put it away. “Let's get some sleep, before starting.”

Nat kissed both of them on the cheek before leaving and Bucky squeezed the back of Clint's neck, before going to his own bed.

Even as it had been Clint's idea, he couldn't sleep.

It wasn't the quiet snores coming from Bucky that kept him awake. He was used to them by now, but rather his own thoughts.

They were racing and tumbling over each other. It was the abnormality of the day, the fact they were going to school for the first time in their lives, that they were going to take away Steve's choice in making him fall in love with Nat, that they were closer to getting the slippers and magic and most importantly their parents approval than ever before, that Clint had held a bow in his hands and it had felt amazing.

The last thing made him get up after a couple of hours of staring at the ceiling and accomplishing nothing.

He put on some clothes, jeans and tee and his favorite jacket, before he snuck down the empty corridors and out of the building. His breath left him in white wisps, but he wasn't cold.

The lock of the range was laughably easy to pick and he grabbed his bow and a bucket of arrows in the low light that was no problem for him. He didn't bother with an arm guard.

He shot a couple of times with his jacket on, but the sleeves were hindering him, so he pulled it off. His body reacted to the sudden exposure to the cold, but it didn't bother him.

His next shot hit the target directly in the middle, even as the string scraped over his left bare forearm leaving the skin a bit red.

From that point on he just let it wash over him. Let the repetition and the movements clear his mind and relax in a way nothing had ever could. It didn't matter that it was the middle of the night. It didn't matter that he was the son of the Wicked Witch. It didn't matter that he would be doing something the next day he would probably regret, _already_ regretted a little bit.

When all his arrows were gone and completely covering the middle circle, Clint trekked through the slightly damp grass to get them back. There was even a bounce in his step he refused to acknowledge.

He chose another target and emptied his bucket, again hitting them all in the center. It felt like he didn't have a tense muscle in his whole body.

By the time he got the second round of arrows back, the sky was starting to light up and the sounds of birds were filling the surroundings. He wasn't worried about time. There were another couple of hours until he was expected at breakfast and he had written Bucky a note so he wouldn't be worried.

He got ready for the next shot when he noticed how red his left forearm was and that it was clearly visible where the string had hurt it. At some points it had even broke the skin a little, though it didn't hurt.

After a second of debate with himself he switched the bow to his right hand and took a mirrored stance to before. For a moment it felt a bit unfamiliar, but shooting a couple of arrows helped with that, thought kept hitting the outer edge of yellow and the start of red.

Clint frowned. Was it only the lack of practice like this or something else? Though it couldn't be that his body was tired.

“You need a different bow.”

Clint whirled around, his bow switched back to his left hand while his right pulled an arrow, aiming it at the girl leaning against the wall looking completely unfazed that he was pointing a weapon at her. He didn't even notice how the stance came completely natural to him.

“You have a right eye right hand bow. It doesn't work the way you wanted to use it.” Her black hair was pulled back into a pony tail and her face was free of any make up. She was wearing soft and comfortable looking clothes with a bright blue bow in her hand and something slung over her back that contained arrows. She looked like she was around fifteen/sixteen years old physically, but she held herself like she was older.

“What are you doing here?” The schedule had said that there was only going to be a class first period for the older students.

“I always train in the morning. Better question would be, how did you get in here? I know for a fact you don't have a key.”

Reluctantly Clint lowered his bow. “Door was open.”

She snorted with an expression on her face that showed how absolutely not he believed him. “There is a bow that can be used with both hands. Come see.”

After a second of hesitation Clint followed the girl back into the other room. There she was taking a dark green bow from the wall, sleek and beautiful, well used, but also well loved. Without further ado she took the other bow out of his hand and placed the other one into them. It felt wrong to hold another person's bow.

“Let's shoot some, huh?” She grinned and skipped ahead, unusually cheerful for the early hour. At least Clint thought it was unusual. He and his friends had never been the picture of normal in anything.

Clint positioned himself so that he could see her as he got ready to shoot. This bow felt different in his hands, but it wasn't bad.

“I'm Kate, by the way.” She had her eyes focused on the target. Her body was relaxed as she drew an arrow in a familiar fashion. It landed on the edge of red and blue.

“Clint.” Just from looking at her he didn't think she would rat him out for being here when he shouldn't, though it was possible to be a ploy to get him on her side for something.

For now he didn't need to think about it. They both kept silent as they shot their arrows. Clint's first two hit in the red at different spots, but then something clicked and he was able to hit the yellow middle with every arrow that followed. He didn't even understand why, but switching arms didn't do anything in hindering his aim and the angle was unimportant too. Every arrow hit its mark exactly where Clint wanted.

“It's ridiculous”, Kate said when they both walked over to the target to get their arrows back. “I've been training since I can hold a bow. I'm good, okay, but you...” She huffed. “That consistency is just incredible. What is your secret?”

He thought about it until they were half way back across the grass again. “I don't know. It feels natural.”

Shaking her head she chuckled with a sarcastic edge to it. “Of course it does.”

Nothing to say to that Clint started to shoot again. He switched hands again and again between arrows. He changed up the angle and moved from side to side to see if he could still hit it where he wanted. He could.

He had shot off half of his arrows, when he hesitated, fingers caressing the feathers at the end of an arrow. Taking a deep breath he pulled out two and took aim. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Kate stop and stare, not moving to stop him, but watching.

“Above and beneath the exact middle of yellow”, he announced and let the arrows fly. Kate stopped breathing and stared.

“That's incredible”, she whispered. “Absolutely insane.” With renewed determination Kate went back to training. If she had been on the Isle with Clint, she might have been in their crew, judging from what Clint could already tell about her.

Clint let her and nocked a single arrow this time, aiming at the target, but he wanted to explore, wanted to see what else he could do. So he started walking backwards. Probably not the most challenging thing, but something at least.

Not even a second after the arrow had left the bow, Clint's back collided with something solid, but too giving and soon for it to be the wooden back wall, and stumbled a little. Hands grabbed his shoulders. Kate was still in front of him, shooting her arrows, so Clint didn't think, just reacted.

Using the stumble he whirled around knocking the hands away. He hit a shoulder with his free hand and the stomach with the bow, the element of surprise helping Clint in driving forward and pinning the person to the wall with the bow across the windpipe.

Wide gray blue eyes stared down at Clint. It took a couple of seconds for Clint to notice who was in front of him.

Robin Hood.

His mouth was slightly open and he was breathing shallowly. His hands were on the bow, pressing against Clint's hold.

They were so close that Clint could tell that Hood smelled of clean, fresh air and apples, that he could see all the individual hairs in his beard.

When Clint realized what had happened, he flinched back, getting as much distance between them as possible.

He had ruined it. He had ruined everything. Attacking a teacher in Auradon as the son of a villain. They would send him back. They would send them all back and Nat and Bucky would be punished for what he had done.

“Clint”, Hood said and it sounded so far away. He would be reporting it to Dorothy and she would put him in the car personally. He had failed mother in less than forty eight hours.

His hands were shaking and his vision was turning blurry.

Hood was reaching for him. No. No, Clint couldn't let that happen. They couldn't take him.

The bow clattered to the ground, but Clint didn't hear it. He turned and ran, through the little storage room and abandoning the path. He didn't know where he was going, but away was good enough for now.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but when his lungs burned too badly to be ignored and his legs couldn't carry him anymore he practically collapsed onto a log. For a bit he just closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing, until his thoughts were clear and he didn't feel like his body was giving out on him any second.

Looking around he found himself in the middle of a forest. He couldn't see any houses, paths or clearings. He was utterly lost.

 _You're such an idiot. No knowledge of anything past the school and you just had to run. You could have apologized, talked your way out of it, but no. You had to panic and make everything worse._ The voice sounded frustratingly like his mother.

With a sigh he stood up again and tried to determine where he had come from, but the last clear memory he had was from the range. The rest was an absolute blur.

He didn't have the spell book with him, so he could either wait for someone to find him or just start walking until he found a suitable tree to climb and maybe get a general direction.

Well, that decision was easy. He started walking.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time he was thirsty and a little bit hungry he had mastered the art of silently making his way through the woods and all the marvel he had felt at the start of his trek was slowly fading.

There was no forest on the Isle of the Lost. Even a single tree or any kind of plant was rare. That caused two things. Clint couldn't read any indications to find his way through and he had felt like an elephant, making every twig break under his feet and all the leaves rustle.

Now though, Clint could circumvent most of them and felt better about not giving others an easy target.

It didn't many any of the trees easier to climb.

He sighed.

For all he knew he was walking into the complete opposite direction he needed to, but none of the trees he came across had any branches he could grab and he wasn't familiar enough to know how to get up one without them.

With another sigh he decided to take a break and leaned against the next tree, tilting his head upwards.

The green leaves were hiding most of the blue sky and the sun and he was glad that he didn't have to worry about a heat stroke on top of everything else.

“... Seen him like that?”

Clint perked up at the faint voice, coming from his left, but he didn't move, slowed down his breathing.

“You know how he is. Getting attached to people too quickly for his own good.” That voice was deeper and a bit farther away than the other. They were spread out.

“You're right.” It was accompanied by a chuckle. “You think that guy is gonna be a merry man?”

Merry man? Clint hadn't never heard of that before and maybe it was his wishful thinking, but maybe these men were here for Clint. It sounded like it, at least.

“The way Robin had talked about him? This Clint could replace me as his second.”

Okay. Definitely here for Clint. Though what they were saying was making no sense. Not that it mattered.

The two had passed him, while they were talking and Clint moved around his tree slowly to get a visual.

The one who talked last, _Robin's_ second, was the first Clint saw. It probably had something to do with his height of over six feet. Shaggy black hair was ending past his shoulders and a full black beard hid half of his face completely. He was built like a bear and there was no way Clint could do anything in a fight with this guy other than run.

The other one looked to be the opposite. Around Clint's height with no beard and short barely there blond hair. He was slender, but muscular. Long legs that seemed like he would be a fabulous runner.

A pair that complemented each other and would erase any weakness the other one had.

It reminded Clint of himself and his friends.

“Where did the guy even come from? I've never heard of him”, the smaller man said, looking around the forest and revealing a wine skin attached to his belt. Clint licked his lips at the sight.

“Me neither. Can't be much of a guy though, if he gets lost in Auradon.”

They both laughed and Clint scowled, stepping away from his tree and following them slowly. He wanted to say something, but at the same time he rather see how long it took for them to notice him.

For a bit they walked in silence, the two men looking around and Clint keeping behind trees.

Maybe he should just walk in the direction they had come from, but this was safer. And more interesting.

It took about ten minutes, the guys spreading apart more and more, but keeping close enough to see and hear each other if they raised their voices, when a noise from the bigger guy cut through the silence. The noise sounded like someone was whistling, but also not. Very weird.

The guy reached into his right back pocket and pulled something dark gray out and touched it, before holding it to his ear. “We have not find him yet, Robin”, he said in a tone like he had already said it a lot.

Clint frowned. He didn't understand at all. Why was he talking at that thing like it was Hood?

The guy's expression softened a little and he looked fond. “Robin, someone is going to find him. Every Merry Man is looking for him and Auradon is not that big.”

There was half a minute of pause, before he scoffed. “He is not going to be able to hide. That's just ridiculous.”

Clint couldn't hold himself back then. “For the record, I've been hiding since you talked about me replacing you as Hood's second.”

The two whirled around to him in surprise and Clint just stared them down with his hands on his hips.

“It's a boy”, the smaller one said quietly.

Clint raised an eyebrow.

“Robin”, the other one said slowly, voice controlled. “Is this Clint a bloody kid?”

“I didn't think you were crazy as well as unobservant. What are you doing?”

The two guys exchanged a frown, before the bigger guy rolled his eyes.

“Robin wants to talk to you.” He offered the gray thing to Clint who stayed where he was.

“I'm not touching that.” Did Auradon have magic after all? Or was this all a trick to snare him in? And he had played right into it. Dammit.

“Okay”, he sighed and touched the thing again. “You're on speaker.”

“Clint?”, Hood's voice came from the thing, sounding not completely like himself. “Clint, these two are my friends. They here to take you back to the school. You can trust them.”

Automatically Clint's lips pulled into a sneer and his fingers twitched for a weapon, but he didn't reach for his knife. Not yet.

“Doesn't look very impressed by that, H”, the one holding the thing commented and the other one rolled his eyes.

“I'm Will Scarlet, by the way. And this fellow here is Little John.” He moved over and patted the taller man on the arm.

“Funny.” For one he meant the irony of the name and then also the names themselves. “I know that Will Scarlet and Little John were killed during the Banishment.” He had heard the story so many times while he was growing up. The two men had been his mother's favorite monkeys and she was still pissed about their deaths. It had always peeved him how she seemed more attached to some monkeys than to her own son.

“Don't know whether your eyes are working, but we're right here.” _Will_ sighed. “Look. Can we just go back to Auradon Prep? I know classes are boring as shit, but running away is seriously not the answer.”

“That is not helpful”, _John_ told him and pushed his elbow into Scarlet's side.

“You're not in trouble, Clint. Come back with them, okay?”, Hood's voice was audible again. “Natasha and Bucky are worried, too.”

Something of his guilt and concern for his friends must have shown on his face, because the two men smiled.

“Got him. We'll be back in hour or so.” John touched the thing again and put it back into his pocket.

Before Clint knew it they had flanked him and were steering him into a direction. The only thing keeping Clint from lashing out was that they were not close enough to invade his personal space.

“So Robin told us about your remarkable ability with a bow and how you looked like, but failed to mention a couple of things.” Scarlet's tone was incredibly nonchalant. “Like whose kid you are and where the hell you've been until now.”

“And why you thought we were dead. That would be good to know.” Little John threw an exasperated look over to his friend who just smirked and shrugged.

For one second Clint entertained telling the truth and how good it would feel, but it was such stupid thought Clint nearly laughed at himself out loud. “I'm an orphan from the Isle of the Lost and I've heard it in stories from people who were there that day.”

“That's tough, kid. How old are you even, fifteen?”

Clint glared at John. “Seventeen.”

Since the Banishment Auradon hadn't cared at all what happened on the Isle of the Lost. Clint had never been grateful for it until the last couple of days. Auradon most likely wanted to forget there even was an island with their villains on it, so there was no record of the next generations at all. Maybe even of the ones who had first been put there.

The only contact Auradon made with the Isle was to deliver some food and whatever they deemed worthless enough in semi regular shipments. Even with those and the small gardens and animal ranges, a lot of people were constantly hungry, even if they weren't outright starving.

Clint wasn't grateful for that, but rather for the records one. This way they couldn't actually check whose kids he, Natasha and Bucky were and when they had been born. Otherwise they would have rejected him from the beginning. While Natasha was eighteen and Bucky seventeen and may have been allowed, Clint was already closer to twenty than nineteen. Not that it helped much if they would be sent back already anyway.

So he allowed himself to feel a little bit insulted that John thought him to be fifteen. That was just ridiculous.

“You are friends with Hood, then?” Gaining more information about them would only be beneficial in the long run.

“Since we were teenagers. Got up to all kinds of mischief. You know, the Robin Hood and the Merry Men adventures.” Scarlet chuckled and completely ignored the eye roll from John.

“The times you stole from the Sheriff of Nottingham and King John?”

And Scarlet was off. He told story after story about what they did. Little John mainly kept silent, except for the occasional comment and some chuckles and laughs.

Against Clint's better judgment he became pulled in, fascinated and eager for more. Hearing about how brave and bordering on reckless Hood had behaved and how they had played the Sheriff and his men for fools and helped the people in a way that was both honorable and operating in the gray area of the law.

It was weird to combine the man he was hearing about with the man that was now a teacher, still well liked, but also much tamer and might he say, boring.

Scarlet talked nearly all of the way back until the stories turned into him bickering with John. While they were insulting and making fun of each other, it was obvious how close they were. At several times Clint had to suppress a chuckle or even a simple amused grin. He didn't really want to, but he kind of liked them.

They saw Hood before he saw them.

He was standing on the edge of the football field, hands crossed over his chest and hair more a mess than before. His head was tilted towards Bucky and Nat who stood with him, though Bucky was restlessly shifting back and forth. Nat was utterly still, tension in her whole body and her fingers were slightly curled, ready to reach for any weapons.

Dorothy was no where to be seen and there weren't any security people or anything like that. So either they thought they could escort them out to the Isle on their own or Clint and his friends were not being send back at all.

Clint whistled for one piercing and loud second, if only to see the two men at his sides flinch and Nat and Bucky look up in clear relief, before they even saw him.

The three met in the middle of the way, Nat's arms wrapping around Clint first in a very tight hug. Clint hugged back a bit more conservatively with one hand stroking up and down her back.

“I'm okay. Just stupid.” A second later she hit his arm, leaving it stinging heavily.

“What were you thinking?”, she half-hissed as Bucky took his turn in hugging Clint. Out of the corner of Clint's eye he could see Hood and the merry men meet a few feet away. Hood was thanking them and they were starting to give him shit. Clint turned back to his own friends.

“We had a plan in motion. You could have just said you didn't like it. Running away is a bit extreme isn't it?” Bucky smirked and ruffled Clint's hair who couldn't muster up a glare under the circumstances.

“We managed to smooth things over, but skipping school draws attention we can't afford. We could have mapped out the area together. Without getting lost.” She put her hands on her hips and glared at him, while he frowned back.

“What are you...”, he managed, before Hood, Scarlet and Little John joined them.

“I told the other teachers you weren't feeling well. Just go to your classes tomorrow and it will be fine.” Hood's eyes looked Clint over from head to toe, before returning to his eyes. “Going into the forest like that without knowing your way around wasn't smart.”

Clint stared at him for a couple of seconds. “You didn't tell them.”

“Tell us what?”, all four of them asked simultaneously and Hood shook his head.

“They didn't need to know. It was my fault. You didn't do anything wrong.”

The words sounded foreign and Clint nearly didn't understand them. He was always at fault. He was always the one doing everything wrong.

His mouth opened, but nothing came out and he closed it again. His mind felt like it had stopped working.

“We should get our rooms. Sell the excuse.” Natasha smiled at all of them and then linked her arms with Clint and Bucky, willingly hindering her movement, because it was them, and dragged them off.

“Thank you”, Clint managed to direct at Scarlet and Little John who both looked slightly surprised, but Clint caught two smiles before they were far enough away and Nat started talking.

“What Hood told us sounded reasonable, even though we knew you would never go on your own like this. So, tell us what really happened and what you were doing while we were gathering ingredients and doing all the work.”

Clint glanced over Nat's head at Bucky who just shrugged with a grin and didn't say anything.

“I couldn't sleep”, he gave in with a sigh. “So I went down to the range. Archery, shooting arrows with a bow I mean, it's really relaxing. It actually clears my mind.” He hesitated, but decided to elaborate. “It's actually like nothing I've ever done. It's better than pulling a successful heist or shutting down some wannabe trying to be the next big thing. It's...” He licked his lips. “It's better than anything I've ever experienced .”

The two opened their mouths, but he quickly continued.

“So I was just shooting a bow and this girl showed up a couple hours before breakfast. Kate. She came there for training and we just shot more arrows. Then I walked backwards and right into Hood. He is very good at sneaking up on people. I didn't know it was him so I attacked him, pinned him to a wall and cutting off his air and everything. When I realized what I was doing I... I panicked. I panicked and ran and got lost in the forest.”

Neither of them said anything for a bit, thoughtfully staring forward the way they were walking, towards the building with their rooms.

“Hood covered for you. He must like you”, Bucky offered at least, when they were only feet away from the boys' room.

“Let's just concentrate on what we have to do”, Clint said and could barely stop himself from growling it. Bucky didn't deserve it. It wasn't his fault that Clint had no idea how to deal with this whole Hood thing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

While Natasha was stirring the mixture that would become their instrument in the end, Clint was reading through the recipe again just to do something, even though he had already read it so often that he could recite it from memory. Bucky was wandering around the kitchen, examining drawers and cabinets, snooping through all the stuff Auradon had stored here. Only a fraction of which the three had ever seen.

Clint sighed and straightened up, catching the eyes of the other two. “The tear is the only thing left.” He tapped the little vial Natasha had stored it in with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm.

“We don't have to go through with it”, Bucky offered, coming over to lean against the counter they were using next to Clint. Natasha nodded in agreement.

The laugh that wanted to bubble up in Clint was bitter and angry. “Do I have to remind you what we're here for? Why we even came to this place?” He didn't wait for them to answer.

“This is our one chance to prove ourselves to our parents. To prove that we are evil and vicious and cruel.” He forced himself to sound resolute and determined, but he had to press his shaky hands against his thighs under the table. “We're going to do this.” He grabbed the vial and tipped the contents into the mixture, watching the tear disappear as Natasha stirred it again.

It should have felt like one step closer to victory.

It didn't.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After classes the next day, which thankfully excluded archery (He had even avoided the range in the morning, though his fingers had itched to hold a bow again), they were ready to execute the plan.

Natasha was already waiting at Steve's locker with the see through bag holding The Cookie and Bucky was close to the classroom door Steve and Tony were going to come out, so that he could occupy the latter while Natasha did her thing. Clint's part was to observe and intervene in case something went wrong, which it shouldn't.

At the moment he was leaning against the railing, observing the students going about their lives. It was ridiculous, really. They looked so oblivious to what the real life was, everyone putting on their masks and acting they had no ulterior motives.

The door down the hall opened and Steve and Tony spilled out, smiling and laughing with the latter making wild hand gestures. Steve said something Clint couldn't make out from this angle, before they turned and walked towards them. Show time.

When Steve noticed Natasha, he smiled genuinely. It was still unnerving how he always was so happy to see any one of them. Just as they reached them, Bucky grabbed Tony and pulled him into a conversation a little bit away. They both looked comfortable and happy and Clint ignored whatever was trying to make its way into his heart at the sight.

“You're coming to the game tonight?”, Steve asked Natasha with a friendly smile. There really was no romantic tone in any part of Steve. It was weird.

“Definitely. I'm going to cheer you on. I actually made you something.” With a shy look Natasha lifted up the cookie and offered it to Steve. “For good luck.”

“Thank you. That is very kind of you. It's just, I don't eat anything before games. I'm sorry.”

“Oh, yeah. I get it. You're the prince and I'm just an orphan from the Isle of the Lost. Of course you don't accept food from me. Should have thought about that. I won't bother you anymore.”

“Hey, no, that's not it at all”, Steve protested, trying to keep her from leaving, but Natasha was already slowly packing away the cookie again.

“It's okay. I wouldn't accept food from me either. Kids of villains always...”

Steve interrupted her by grabbing the cookie out of her hands and taking a huge bite out of it, humming and making approving noises.

With a smirk Clint straightened up, ready to triumph as soon as Steve was smitten by Natasha.

Steve's grin slipped of his face and he frowned as his chewing began to slow. He must be feeling something.

“Are you okay?”, Natasha asked and Steve nodded, before shaking his head and nodding again.

“It's just...” He didn't get any farther, because suddenly something hit Clint in the back and he stumbled forward and crashed right into Steve, causing them to topple over and land on the ground.

“Sorry man”, was audible from behind him, accompanied by the sound of a basketball bouncing over the ground twice.

Clint ignored it and concentrated instead on Steve who was staring up and directly into Clint's face with wide eyes.

 _Oh fuck,_ he thought just as Steve lips formed a sappy smile.

“Clint”, he said reverently and Clint's stomach sank even lower. “Have your eyes always been this beautiful?”

Clint was grabbed and put on his feet abruptly. Anxiety and pain was not a good combination, but he pushed down the urge to vomit. He had ruined the whole plan. They were screwed and his mother would kill them and give them to her monkeys as food.

It felt like there was another panic attack coming on.

“We'll see you at the game. Bye.” Natasha's voice sounded like it came from far away and it helped ground him. He couldn't let himself be this vulnerable in the middle of everyone.

“We definitely will be there”, Clint said and Steve's lips pulled into a bright grin. Tony was beside him with a bewildered expression and Bucky had positioned himself on Clint's other side, supporting him.

“Excuse us”, Natasha said and lead the three away from the other students.

Clint's heart was racing, his hands were shaking and his mind was a mess. There was only one thing...

“Bow. I need to get to the range.”

“You got it.” Bucky was the friend anyone could hope for. Clint certainly had done nothing to deserve him.

The range was thankfully empty as they arrived and it was as easy to pick the lock as it had been the day before. He pulled off his jacket and someone caught it, before it fell onto the ground. The green bow practically flew into his hand and he grabbed the thing Kate had strapped to her back and copied her.

With the first step outside he started the motion of drawing an arrow and shooting it at a target. His hands were steady. Each arrow hitting the target cleared his mind more and more and his body was his own. He was not controlled by his stupid emotions anymore.

“You're supposed to hit the middle, right?”

Clint huffed and smirked at Bucky. “Yeah, but not every arrow fits on the space.”

That earned an eye roll from Natasha who had his jacket folded over her arms. “Arrogant.”

“Nah. I'm just that good.”

Natasha smacked him on the arm, while Bucky pulled him into a headlock and ruffled his hair until Clint got free by poking him with the bow.

“What are we going to do now?”, Clint asked after a brief moment of silence.

“We're going to follow the plan.”

“I dunno if you noticed, but the prince is not exactly in love with you”, Bucky said and Clint sighed.

“It would have been easier and less suspicious, but he is now in love with me and that is just as good. We can still use it.” Though Clint really didn't want to.

“People will be asking questions, but that's normal with royalty, isn't it?”

Bucky chuckled and slung his arms over the other two's shoulders. “It can't be so different from how the people on the Isle treated us, can it?”

“With hatred and fear?” Natasha raised her eyebrows at him.

At least those were things Clint knew how to handle.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The bleachers and football field were already completely full, when Clint, Nat and Bucky arrived. It was basically a big sea of Auradon's colours blue and yellow and the white and green of the opposing team - whoever that was.

Two groups on the field with numbers on the back stood in a circle with their heads together. Steve's bright hair was easily spotted under the Auradon colours. Two other groups consisting of girls were close by and cheering at the spectators, moving and swinging balls of fluff around.

The three exchanged bemused looks at that, just as someone shouted Bucky's name louder than all the noise around them.

Tony was in the middle of the crowd, standing on his seat probably and waving his arms wild enough that the people around him leaned well out of the way just in case. Three seats were vacant next to him with Bruce on the other hand whose smile was fond, but exasperated.

“Long way from _Burt,_ huh?”, Clint couldn't help but tease and Bucky just shoved him, before making his way toward the empty seats.

“Someone is going to get hurt”, Natasha noted quietly and Clint just shook his head, without replying.

They were all going to get hurt.

Tony and Bucky were already deep in conversation when Clint and Natasha had managed to get past all the people and sit down with Nat in the middle and Clint next to Bruce.

“Are these things that boring?”, Clint asked him when he noticed the book sitting on his lap.

He chuckled, looking a little embarrassed. “I'm not much of a football fan. Tony keeps dragging me to these things so I show my support. Reading is better than watching something the rules of make less sense to me than quantum physics.”

The sound of a loud horn prevented Clint to answer and he automatically looked down to the field. Everyone got to their feet and shouted even louder than before. Clint threw a helpless look over to Natasha who just laughed.

“Welcome to the match we've all been waiting for”, a voice boomed around them. “The Fighting Knights against the undefeated Sherwood Falcons!”

Applause followed and Tony was hooting. Bucky had a huge grin on his face next to him.

Sherwood. Wasn't that where Sheriff had fought against Robin Hood?

Involuntarily Clint looked around, trying to spot the teacher. Instead he found Kate, down in front of the first row. She was grinning and leaning into a hug with a woman that looked like an older copy of her. Then Kate hugged the man with them who kissed her cheek. Her parents, probably.

The obvious love on their faces made Clint look away and focus on whatever was happening on the field.

His only indication whether something was good or not were Tony's reactions which were so loud and spacious no one missed it. That was practically better than the game itself.

The breaks were filled by the girls dancing and giving motivational speeches. It was really bizarre.

“This whole thing is ridiculous”, Clint told Natasha quietly, leaning over and she smirked.

“It's just like my tenth birthday.”

Clint snorted and rolled his eyes. “You and I remember that very differently.”

“This is a nail-biter, folks”, the voice was audible again from the speakers. “There's 47 seconds left on the clock. We're all tied up. What a game between Auradon's fiercest rivals.”

The teams were standing in a circle again, while the girls were cheering at the crowd and at the guys on the field. Now that Clint was looking closer he noticed Pepper in a blue and yellow uniform, grinning and jumping up and down. He snorted and pointed it out to Nat who chuckled mockingly.

“Prince Steve takes the field. At his side his knights Sam and Rhodey. Look at their faces, ladies and gentleman. They mean business.”

With a silent sigh Clint leaned back and turned his head to look at Bruce's book. He was only here to get Steve to take him to the coronation, nothing more. It didn't matter to him whether they win or lose.

Bruce's book had graphs and long texts in tiny print. Nothing made sense to Clint and it barely read like English.

“... made the play. Prince Steve, everybody! Prince Steve just won the game for the Knights! The undefeated Sherwood Falcons are no longer undefeated!”

The noise level from the bleachers were deafening as everyone around them jumped up and down, screaming from the top of their lungs. Clint hitched up his shoulders and reluctantly got to his feet as Nat pulled him up. Even Bruce put his book down and clapped. Tony was on top of his seat again cheering louder than anybody else, even hugging Bucky for a bit who looked completely startled, though Tony didn't seem to notice in his celebration.

Clint was clapping slowly watching all of them going crazy with fascination. It had just been a game. Why were they so invested in all of it?

“What a victory. What a team. And our Prince Steve. Making the play of the history just weeks before the coronation on Banishment Day! I can hardly wait.”

Clint's hands froze mid clap and he looked over to see Bucky and Nat look back at him with wide eyes.

Coronation was on Banishment Day? Clint didn't know how to feel about that and it looked like the other two didn't either. It wasn't even about the fact that on Banishment Day about twenty years ago Auradon had decided their fate for them and had doomed them to grow up on the Isle of the Lost. That had made them who they were today and Clint, in any case, wouldn't change that.

No, it was about the fact that apparently the coronation, Banishment Day and his birthday were all on the same day this year.

“Here he comes! Prince Steve! The...”

“Excuse me. Can I have everybody's attention please?”

Clint turned back to the field and scanned the area until he had found Steve holding something slender and silver coming to a stop only a little bit away from the first row of seats. The girls had positioned themselves behind him and everyone was looking at each other confused, but quietened down completely.

“Thank you all for coming here today. It is a special day.” Steve was beaming, eyes wandering over the people until it landed on Clint who forced himself to smile back at least a little. The silver thing projected his voice around for everybody to hear. “That win would have never have happened if it wasn't for one special person. I want to thank them and ask them something I've been thinking of for a long time.”

A wave of whispers ran through everyone, speculating and saying he was talking about them. More than one girl squealed at the thought. Clint was just preparing himself to look happy and excited when they all inevitable looked at him.

“Clint, would you do me the great honor of going to the coronation with me?”

People turned in an effort to find who he was talking about and one after another was nudged and pointed in Clint's direction.

Natasha had to pinch Clint's side hard for him to get on with the program. He was never the one in the middle of the action and it felt weird.

“Yes. Yeah, I would love to”, Clint said in a normal volume, but with the silence it carried everywhere. Just to sell it he put a big fake smile onto his lips and nodded abundantly.

“He said yes! I...” Steve was interrupted by an adult who was taking the silver thing and herding him away, but not before he shouted something that sounded like _I'll find you,_ but Clint wasn't completely sure.

“I didn't know you two were that close”, Tony asked, leaning over Natasha and Bucky while basically hanging off the latter's shoulders. His expression was a mix of surprise and intrigue.

Clint bit his lip, playing at unsuccessfully hiding a smile, while he looked after Steve wistfully. An expression he had only ever seen on Natasha and he hoped he pulled it off even a little bit.

“What a Victory!”, the voice from before was audible loudly again. “What a day for the Auradon Knights, finally winning back the trophy after so many years.”

 _Yeah,_ Clint agreed. _What a day._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This night Clint at least got a couple of hours of sleep, before his body told him to get up and to the range. For a bit he resisted, burying his head under his pillow, but when it became clear he wouldn't be going back to sleep he got up with a sigh and put on some clothes.

The sun wasn't even out yet as he made his way across the grounds towards the range. It was, unsurprisingly, deserted.

He slung an arrow holder onto his back, before his hands hovered over the green bow. He was able to shoot with both hands with that one, but it belonged to someone else and it felt like a violation to handle someone else's bow. So he grabbed the bow Hood had given him in the first session and positioned himself in a way that he could see anyone coming through the door. He really didn't want a repeat of last time.

It should still be unnerving how easily archery could calm him down, could sort through everything he was feeling and thinking with one simple movement, but the effect was too good to be questioned.

He got through one and a half batches of arrows before Kate showed, again in comfortable but also different clothes from last time. She was smiling, apparently happy to see him which was kind of a foreign concept to Clint, if he was being honest to himself.

“I was hoping to catch you here. I have something for you.” As she walked over she searched in her pockets, before pulling out a string of black leather. “You can of course keep it without the chain, but I thought it fit well.” She put it onto his palm and he saw that it was not only the chain, but a key attached to it. “It's for the range, so you won't get in trouble for however you get in here.”

“Thank you”, he said hesitatingly, but took the key and tied it around his neck, making the metal settle right under his tee against his skin out of sight.

“You're welcome.” She fastened the arm guard around her left forearm with a slight smirk. “So you and the Prince, huh?”

Decisively Clint turned away and pulled his bow. “There is no _me and the Prince._ It's new and I don't want to talk about it.” He wouldn't know how to act smitten with the guy.

“Sure, sure. I wanted to ask you two other things, but I couldn't find you yesterday.”

He kept his eyes on the target and pulled another arrow, bracing himself for the worst.

“What's your favorite colour?”

With a surprised frown he looked over to Kate who was fastening her arrows to her back. Such a benign question was definitely not what he had expected and he couldn't think of any way it could be used against him. Still. He turned back to his target to think it over for a second.

The answer should be pretty clear. As the son of the Wicked Witch, green would be the best one and black acceptable, but it wouldn't have been the truth.

“Purple”, he said on his next exhale. “Preferably a darker purple, but I like them all.”

“That's cool.” She was finally ready and started to work on her own arrows.

For a while they just shot arrows side by side and while it was still relaxing Clint couldn't quite let go.

“What was the second thing?”, he asked as they collected their arrows.

“Huh?”

“You said you wanted to ask me two things. The favorite colour was only one thing.”

“Oh.” She snorted and rolled her eyes. It seemed like it was at herself. “I wanted to ask if you were interested in going on a run with me after classes. There is a beautiful trail I take every now and then.”

Clint thought about it on the way back. It would keep him in shape and there wasn't anything else he had to do.

“Though if you have a date with the Prince today, we can do this sometime else.” There was that smirk again.

“No. No date. I'll come with you.” If only to avoid Steve as long as possible.

“Awesome.”

And that was that.

They shot arrows until it was time for breakfast which they walked to together. Kate talked about the trail they would take, what they would be able to see and how she hoped the weather would hold.

They separated in the cafeteria, Kate going to a table with her own friends and Clint heading to the one with his. The first thing he noticed was that they had rearranged the seating arrangement to give him a seat beside Steve, but then his eyes swept past it and noticed Hood coming in through the other door. Their eyes met and Clint gave him a nod, though he was not sure that was the right thing to do until he got a nod and a slight smile back.

“Hey”, Steve greeted him with a soft smile as Clint sat down.

Okay. Now was the time to concentrate. This was the guy Clint was supposed to like, to be thrilled to have the opportunity to go on a date with. He couldn't just imitate Natasha, because she always used the innocent damsel in distress persona. Clint had already shown that he was none of that and though he didn't have to do anything about making Steve like him with the love spell, he couldn't make all the others suspicious if he acted like he had before.

So Clint decided to copy Steve who was definitely in love and such couldn't be acting too weirdly.

Right?

“Hi”, Clint said with a smile looking at Steve until Tony cleared his throat pointedly. Had it been too much? Glancing at Natasha he received a subtle thumbs up, so he relaxed again.

“Wow. You're already annoying and you haven't even started dating properly.” Tony dramatically rolled his eyes and spread himself across the table. Bucky patted his head indulgently which led to the whole table bickering with one another.

Steve though kept out of it and reached to place a hand on Clint's arm which he didn't push away or moved out of the way of or anything like that, because Steve though he was in love with Clint and that meant not even trying to hurt the other person. At least Clint thought that was how it worked.

“I was trying to catch you earlier, but it seemed we were always missing each other somehow.”

“You caught me now.” As if anyone could catch him if he didn't wanna be caught.

The perpetual smile on Steve's lips widened. “I was hoping we could go on a date today. There is this beautiful spot I found for us.”

Pulling his features into a sad expression Clint turned his body towards Steve. “I promised Kate I would go on a run with her. I could tell her that we'll do it another time, but I don't break my promises.”

“No, of course not. I love your morale code. Don't change. We find another time.”

Morale code. _Ha_.

“Thank you. How about tomorrow?” Or never, but he saw Sam looking over at them every now and then and most likely listening.

Steve frowned and his smile disappeared. “There is so much to prepare for the coronation and Family Day. Today was my last real free day for a while.”

“Oh.” Clint looked down, hopefully appropriately sad, before all the words registered and he looked back at Steve with a frown of his own. “Family Day?”

“It's on Sunday. All the parents come to visit and we have a small get together. Everyone is looking forward to it.” He paused and his features pulled into something sad and puppy like. “I'm sorry. That was insensitive of me. You probably don't want to hear about something like that.”

Because Clint didn't know his parents. Right.

“Oh it's okay. If you're working on it, I want to know all about it.”

The soft smile was back again and his hands wandered down Clint's arm to grab his hand. Clint tightened his grip on his fork, so that he didn't pull away.

He never had his hand held before and he wasn't sure he liked it much.

It didn't take long for the others to catch onto what Steve was talking about and they interjected with comments and in Nat's and Bucky's case questions. Table arrangements and decorations, buffet and a chocolate fountain, entertainment, who was all coming, some type of game that Clint didn't know and so much more. It absolutely did not sound like some _small get together._ It sounded more like a party.

Clint held back with his own commentary, though he and Steve shared so many smiles the number was in the double digits. His face hurt.

“You have Biology next, right?”, Nat asked even though she already knew the answer. They had memorized each other's schedule the second they had got them.

At Clint's nod Bruce stepped up next to him with a tiny smile of his own. “Me too. Wanna walk together?”

“Sure.” He turned to Steve to say his goodbyes and was promptly enveloped in a hug. As tall as the Prince was he was slow and it didn't surprise Clint, thankfully. That would have been a disaster. Still, he felt awkward as he put his own hands on Steve's back. What was even worse was that he made eye contact with Hood again over Steve's shoulder. Though before either of them could do anything Steve pulled back and Bruce guided him away.

Bruce was probably the calmest and most silent of the whole group. That didn't mean he didn't have anything to say. When he opened his mouth it was always intelligent or insightful and he made sure everyone was included in some way or another. Clint could see that most of the people looked at the boy and underestimated him massively.

Sure, Clint could take Bruce in a physical fight any time, but Bruce and Tony were the ones Clint was the most concerned about when it came to figuring out what they were doing with the Prince.

The Biology classroom had a couple of desks for the students and one for the teacher with shelves full of random stuff that most likely had something to do with the subject, though Clint couldn't quite make the connection between the animals, plants and unnaturally coloured string like objects.

“The seat next to me is empty.”

Clint followed him to a table in the back and took the seat that was between Bruce and the other students. More than one threw them weird looks and though he was sure Bruce noticed, neither of them commented on it.

The teacher started his class with pointing at the board in the front and talking about it. Clint only listened to it with one ear, not understanding really, but making sure he didn't miss anything significant. Instead he started to flip through the book they had given him for the class skimming the headlines and texts, trying to make sense of it.

Cells that were apparently in everything. Plants and their environment and how they sustain themselves. How animals and humans were build, from bones to skin which Clint found fascinating if he was honest.

And he came across something he couldn't for the life of him skip. Genetics. The word parents caught his eye first and then he was so engrossed in it that he barely noticed that the class was over and Bruce was packing up his things.

“What were you reading?”, Bruce asked amused as Clint just shoved all his stuff in his bag without care and picked up the book to continue reading whenever he could on the way to his next class.

“There is this part about how we get our bodies from our parents. Like our genetic make up.” Those last words felt foreign on his tongue. “And there are dominant traits and stuff, so we would either go after one of our parents or both of them. I have not read all of it, but it's so interesting.” Clint carried the book under one arm as they left the classroom.

Bruce nodded. “It is. Because we get the genes from two different people, our DNA is totally unique. There are of course parts that are the same, but DNA is always looked at as a whole. Our fingerprints are also unique. There are no two fingers that are the same, so it is widely used as an identification tool.”

“Identification? Like you look at my finger and know who I am?” The idea kind of weirded Clint out.

They stopped at Bruce's locker.

“Not quite. For example I have a glass with prints on it, okay? And I have, let's say, a hundred hands. There are machines that can look at the prints I have and tell me which hand made them. If I have a name to the hand, I know who had held the glass.”

“Wow.” Clint let that sink in for a second. “So, if fingerprints are the same as DNA, can you do that for that to? I mean, is there a machine or something that can find the person with a specific DNA?”

“Yeah.” Bruce was grinning with excitement. Maybe he couldn't talk with anyone about this stuff. “DNA is in everything of our bodies. You can do it with everything. Hair, a bit of skin, saliva, blood. It works with everything. There is a system that...” He was interrupted by the school bell and they realized they were late for the next class.

“Thanks Bruce”, Clint told him quickly, before they parted. Bruce was walking more sedately, while Clint was full on sprinting down the corridors to get to the range. He really shouldn't put himself in the spotlight even more than he already was with this whole Steve business.

Clint nearly fell as he stumbled into the range, bag falling with a thud onto the ground and lungs burning. As he tried to catch his breath as quickly as possible Hood told the other students to get back to work as he came over, arms crossed over his chest and eyebrows raised. He had trimmed his beard a little and his shirt was pulled tight over his biceps. Clint didn't want to notice these things, especially on Hood, but he did.

“Sorry”, he told him when he got himself under control again. “I had Biology and Bruce was in that class and we got to talking about DNA and fingerprints. Did you know that there are no two fingers that are alike? Oh and DNA too. One of a kind for each person, but you can find out who it belongs to from a strand of hair. It's...” Clint realized that he was babbling and abruptly stopped, feeling embarrassment threaten to make him blush.

There was a slight smile on Hood's lips, amused and warm and Clint straightened his shoulders with what he was sure was a defiant expression. It made the other man smile eve more.

“It won't happen again.”

“You got caught up.” Hood shrugged. “It's fine. Go grab a bow.” He moved his hand, but then pulled it back to its previous position.

Before Clint could more than frown, Hood had turned away and walked over the others. Quickly, so that he didn't loose anymore practice time, he put his stuff down by the wall and went and grabbed some arrows and the black bow again. By the time he had set up and shot two arrows, Lester had moved up next to him. One glance showed Clint that Hood was on the other side of the range, but was watching them even as he was correcting a girl's stance.

“Whatever you think you're doing, I'm going to stop you.”

“And what is that, Lester?” Clint only paid him half of his attention. Lester was absolute no threat in the physical department nor was he clever enough to actually find out their plan and find proof.

“You seducing the Prince and Dad to take over everything, so that you can rule.” The _Duh_ was silent, but clearly there.

“World domination?”, Clint asked dryly, letting an arrow loose and shaking his head. No imagination that guy. Then all the words registered and he turned fully towards Lester who was glaring at him.

“I'm not seducing anyone”, he nearly hissed. The mere idea of seducing someone that was under a love spell was absolutely ridiculous. And seducing Hood, making him a love sick puppy like Steve, didn't appeal at all. Hood was too strong and capable for the pathetic weak version to be even the tiniest bit intriguing.

Lester's expression turned haughty. “No wonder you're an orphan.” He stepped closer and Clint tightened his grip on his bow. “Someone like you couldn't be loved by anyone. Not even your own parents.”

Clint prided himself in being the strongest on the Isle, to be the one absolutely nothing could touch, physically or mentally. He was undefeated.

No one had ever thought to bait him with his mother.

Lester's eyes widened and he swallowed. Clint's face must have been truly terrifying.

The Wicked Witch didn't love, didn't care for anyone but herself. Clint was alive, because she thought he could be used, instead he incapacitated her on the most important day when they were all herded onto the Isle of the Lost like sheep. She had kept her monkeys, because they could be used and they were a distraction in the down time. She had lived in the Tower with Big Bad and Rumpelstiltskin, because they were as powerful as her and they were better together than apart.

Rationally Clint knew she was the reason, he had never done anything right in his life according to her. There was nothing on the Isle that was capable of satisfying her. Rationally he knew that it wasn't his fault he could make her proud.

But this urge to be on the receiving end of a smile, to be told he had done good (or bad as the case was for villains) and to be the one praised, was in no way at all rational. He was still his mother's son.

Clint felt anger and bitterness and disappointment build inside him, coming out of the corners he had shoved them into over the years. His body was pulled as tight as a bowstring.

Quicker than his feet would take him, Lester stumbled away back to his friends and Clint pulled an arrow.

Everything around him seemed to slow down. It would be so easy to take aim and launch the arrow directly into any part of Lester's body on his command, to see blood spurt and the boy crumble to the ground.

Instead he turned to the target and mechanically shot one arrow of another, putting a dark _X_ over the bright and cheerful colors.

Moments like these, where especially dark thoughts entered his mind, he wondered if they were enough to please Mother, but usually the mere thought of acting upon any of them, turned his stomach. While it did this time too, he was still angry, though he couldn't quite tell whether it was only at Lester or at Mother or even at himself.

“Hey.” Hood had come back, the previous smile no where to be seen and a slight frown on his forehead. “You okay?”

Clint breathed out slowly and let his last arrow fly. It completed the up right arm of the _X._ “Fine.”

Frown deepening, Hood's eyes scanned him from head to toe, latching onto his left forearm which was red and welted from the string. In what seemed like an instinctive move Hood grabbed Clint's arm and took the bow away. “I showed you the arm guard. This is what it protects. What are you thinking?”

Clint was glad that at that moment Hood was focusing on examining his arm and not Clint's face, because he had no idea what he would have seen. Hood's fingers were warm and gentle as he brushed over the skin, the scents of apples and fresh air were back in Clint's nose and the concern he was showing was something Clint didn't see all too often. Clint felt weird.

“The arm guard hinders my movement. I can shoot better without it.”

Blue gray eyes fixed onto his own blue eyes. “You won't be able to shoot at all if you seriously damage your arm.”

“I won't.” Because if Clint was sure of one thing, he would never in his life give up archery. Not in a million years for anything in the world.

Hood shook his head, but there was the amusement back again. “Get your arrows”, he told them all, before focusing back onto Clint solely. “Stay afterwards for a bit.” Only then did he let go of Clint's arm who quickly stepped onto the grass and collected his arrows, ignoring how his skin felt cold at specific points.

Lester was throwing him looks, half caution and fear, half contempt, while everyone was putting their stuff away and left for lunch. In the end it was only him and Clint left and the latter just raised his eyebrows.

“Your friends are waiting, Lester”, Hood pointedly said and Lester's face turned red, before he left with a huff.

Clint smirked inwardly.

There was a white container in Hood's hand, as he gestured for Clint to take a seat on the wooden floor. He copied Clint's crossed legs as he sat down in front of him.

“I got something for your arm, to help it heal faster. May I?” He just held out his hand, looking at Clint who couldn't find it in himself to refuse. Hood's fingers were as warm and gentle as before as he held Clint's arm with one hand and smeared a white paste onto the abused skin. There was a slight sting at the points where his skin had been broken, but it was barely noticeable.

“l heard you and Kate are going on a run this afternoon.”

Clint frowned. “When did you talk to her?”

“She sent me a text.” Hood's eyes were focused on Clint's arm.

“A text?” That word felt foreign on his tongue and it must have been audible, because Hood looked up and frowned.

“With her phone.”

Clint just shook his head. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I've never thought about it, but you don't have things on the Isle that we have here in Auradon, do you?”

“I wouldn't know. We had a couple of books that I read that mentioned things, but there was no possibility to ask anyone that had know a life away from the Isle. It's just different over there.” Clint was tempted to shrug, but that might have dislodged his arm in Hood's grip.

There was a tiny pause of silence while Hood rubbed his thumb over Clint's pulse.

“Our first lesson together I was going to put an arm guard on you. Do you remember?”

“Yeah.” He had pulled away automatically, sensing that Hood was a possible threat.

“I assumed your reaction was because you didn't like to be touched. Completely normal, of course, and I decided to respect that. After I saw you hugging your friends and I assumed it was because you knew them the longest. You trust them.”

“I do”, Clint admitted quietly. Hood gave him a slight smile, eyes soft.

“This morning though I saw you with Steve and maybe I'm overstepping, but I was wondering how that fit. You agreed to a date with him and this is not about him being a guy, but you've only known him for a couple of days.”

Clint looked down for a second trying to either decide whether to say anything and in that case find the right words. “You're Robin Hood.”

He frowned a little, but didn't interrupt.

“I have heard stories about you on the Isle. Stories about you slaying all the people the Sheriff sent after you. They all sounded made up, but even lies have some bit of truth in them. Then I met you, the embodiment of a harmless teacher, but my instincts knew better. You're still a fighter and I reacted the way I did, because that's the way I had to react my whole life.” Why was he still talking? “Steve on the other hand may be taller than me and have maybe more muscles than me, but he is not a fighter.”

“I agree with that”, Hood chuckled and squeezed Clint's arm (Had he been just holding it this entire time?). “Though I hope you know I would never do anything to hurt you. You have my word.” Words and promises never meant anything. And yet...

“I'm holding you to that, Hood.”

That earned him a chuckle and a smile. “How about you call me Robin when we're not in class?” He screwed the top back onto the salve container.

“Sure.” Clint shrugged and got to his feet like this was not a big deal. His heart was racing and his arm tingled.

“Want to head to lunch?”, Robin asked as he put the container in a bag.

Clint agreed and grabbed his stuff, the biology book once again under one arm.

“Will asked about you, by the way”, Robin said as he locked the door to the range.

“Scarlet? Why?”

“He likes you, thinks you're interesting.”

“He's not wrong”, Clint replied with a smirk and earned a chuckle and an amused eye roll.

“And very competitive. He doesn't believe you're as good with a bow as you are. And he is still pouting over the fact that you hid from them in the forest for a bit”, he added on like it was an afterthought, thought that was what made Clint laugh. Not just chuckle or smirk, but full on laugh.

He didn't notice the look Robin threw him, full of fondness, intrigue and attraction.

“Tell him he can come to me any time and I'll show him that it wasn't a one time thing or a lie how good I am.” He may be only doing this for a couple of days, but there was no doubt in his mind that he was the best.

“I'm not going to encourage him.”

“So, you're saying that you never entered any competition just to show how good you are?” Clint raised his eyebrows at him skeptically and laughed again at the glare sent his way. “Thought so.”

The door to the mess hall came in sight and Clint quickened his steps and turned, so that he was walking backwards and looking at Robin at the same time. “I'll see you later, Robin.”

Before he could reply anything Clint hurried through the doors and made a bee line for the table. Everyone except Steve was already sitting and eating. There were available seats next to Sam at one end and one next to Bruce which Clint took.

Nat sent him a curious and amused look which he attributed to his good mood which he didn't even want to think about. Bucky probably would have given him the same look, if he hadn't been totally engrossed in whatever story Tony was weaving with his words and hands.

“Here”, Bruce said and pushed a book about half the size of the biology book towards Clint. “This is about what I wanted to tell you earlier. Before the Banishment Auradon used a system. People who got caught doing crimes had to enter their fingerprints and DNA in a data bank, so Auradon could identify them easier and in case they would do another crime to find the people responsible quicker.”

So Clint had been wrong. There was a record of the people on the Isle. Or at least those who hadn't been born there. That was something, he supposed.

“That got me thinking. Only if you wanted to, of course. But we could find someone to test your DNA against the data bank.”

Clint's blood turned to ice and his good mood evaporated completely. “What?”

“Oh, you don't...” Bruce blinked surprised, before he continued. “DNA is unique for every person, as you know, but because it is pieced together from your parents DNA you share about fifty per cent with each of them. You three said you don't know who your parents are, but there is an option to find out. If you wanted to, of course.”

“I...” Just the possibility that they would find out that he was Wicked Witch's son should have had him say _no_ immediately. But... He had never thought about finding out who his father was. There had never been the opportunity and there was no way Mother would ever tell him, if she even knew. “I don't know.”

“Just think about it. You have all the time in the world.” Bruce smiled at him, before he turned back to his food and Tony who was half out of this seat by now, barely contained by Rhodey who wasn't even watching as he talked with Sam.

_All the time in the world._

He didn't though. There were eight days until the coronation where they would steal the wand and the slippers and get their parents their magic back. Which they would use to destroy the ones they blamed for what happened to them. So everybody.

Clint automatically looked over the kids sitting on the table. Pepper would be tortured or even killed in front of her mother Dorothy. Tony because of his father who had helped Dorothy as the phony Wizard Oz. Steve who wasn't here for being the son of the couple who had banished her. Robin for freeing Mother's favorite pets.

Pushing away his plate he concentrated on the book Bruce had given him. He wouldn't be able to get any food down anyway and he didn't want to further go down that road of thought. He didn't know what he feared most. That he would decide to stop the plan and get them off track. Or that he didn't.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Neither on the way to or during Remedial Goodness 101 did Clint tell the other two about what Bruce had told him. He wasn't sure why himself.

Instead they sat in silence and exchanging incredulous looks, as the Fairy Godmother told them all about the heroic deeds Good People had accomplished over the years. It was more a lecture than anything else. She seemed very proud of thinking of it, especially with Family Day coming up, so that they were truly caught up on everyone's lives.

Clint wondered whether or not she had realized that it could be possible that they were the children of the people that were beat in her stories, coming from the Isle hosting those very villains after all.

When the three parted ways, Clint still hadn't said anything, though his reasoning was, if he decided not to act on the information, it wasn't a big deal after all.

Kate greeted him with a smile outside the building, though it turned into a slight frown as she saw his clothes. “Do you not own anything for sport?”

“What do you mean?” He could move perfectly in all of his clothes and they were comfortable. Why everyone kept saying to _put on something more comfortable_ , if what he had was completely serviceable he didn't understand.

“That's a _no_ then.” Kate tapped her leg twice, before nodding. “I got some clothes that should fit you.” Without waiting for a response she walked back inside and towards the girl dormitories.

Sighing Clint followed her, catching up to her quickly with his longer strides.

“You wouldn't believe how many hours we spent talking about you, when I mentioned your name to Will and John. They are kind of obsessed with you.”

Now it was Clint's turn to frown. “You're friends with them?”

“Obviously”, she said as she entered her room and to the closet.

There was absolutely nothing _obvious_ about it.

“Here.” She put dark blue shorts and a white t-shirt in his hands. They were cut for a man's body and several sizes too big for her.

“Who do they belong to?” He only hesitated for a second, before putting them on the bed and stripping off his jacket.

“My dad. I wear it when I miss him too much.” She shrugged and leaned against the other bed. “You don't seem body shy.”

He was down to his underwear and paused with the shorts in his hand. “Does it... make you uncomfortable?” The question seemed so ridiculous. He couldn't count the numbers he had seen either Nat or Bucky naked. Being conscious over their bodies had never been an issue or a priority.

Kate looked at him in amusement. “Nah. I'm actually quite enjoying the show.” She winked at him and he frowned back. “Oh!” She quickly moved across the room to her desk where she picked something up and fiddled with it for a second, before holding it up. An unknown sound was audible and she lowered the thing again before touching it with her fingers.

His mouth opened to ask, but at the last second he just shook his head and finished getting dressed. When he had tied his shoes and hid a knife on his thigh, she had put down the thing again.

“Great. That is much better.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room and down the corridors. “Now come on. We've already lost too much time.”

“I wasn't aware we had a schedule.”

She just ignored him and dragged him outside and into a run as soon as the sun hit them. After a couple steps she let him go, satisfied that he was keeping her pace, which was no problem.

Despite the occasional comment about something they were passing, the sound of their feet hitting the ground was the only thing breaking the silence.

Clint hadn't really thought about how this would turn out, but he was still a bit surprised in a positive sense.

Maybe it was because the exercise and the fresh air relaxed him and the forest gave him the illusion of seclusion and privacy that he asked the next question.

“If you didn't know your father, would you want to know who he is?”

“I can't answer that objectively. I have the best father in the world, of course I would.” She glanced at him, before concentrating back on the path. “Why? Do you have the option to find yours?”

“It's not a sure thing, but Bruce told me about this test I could take.”

“Nothing is a sure thing. If no one ever did anything, because of that, absolutely nothing would ever be done.”

Clint didn't say anything to that. He shouldn't even be talking about this with her.

“Are you undecided because of them being a villain?”

“Yes.” But that wasn't the whole truth. The whole truth was that he was conceived before everyone went to the Isle, so there was a big chance the test would reveal the Wicked Witch as his mother and no one as his father. The risk of being revealed was far greater than the chance of a reward and still. Of course he could do it after Mother had taken over Auradon, but he somehow doubted she would permit that.

“Only because they are your biological parents, doesn't mean anything. You are nearly an adult legally and you already seem all grown up. Knowing their names doesn't mean you have to go to them and get raised. It only means there is a possibility of piecing together your history. Just because your parents were villains, doesn't mean you are one.”

The rest of the run was spent in complete silence. Maybe she sensed that he didn't want to talk anymore, maybe the dark mood that had descended on them was enough to occupy her thoughts.

For his part, her last sentence echoed in his head over and over.

He grew up around villains. He was raised as a villain. He had the blood of a villain. There was no path except being a villain.

She had no idea what she was talking about.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next two days passed in a weird semblance of routine. There were classes, meals spent with the usual group and in the afternoon Clint, Nat and Bucky would scout out the location of the coronation as best as they could without looking suspicious. Before classes Clint would go to the range and be joined by Kate after a while. She didn't mention the topic of his parents again.

Steve showed up to less meals than he didn't and Clint acted the lovesick fool. It felt wrong, but he ignored it in favor of the grand plan.

There also had not been a reason to refuse, so they had set up a date for after Family Day. Steve had wanted it to be a surprise, so Clint had no idea what was going to happen, though apparently he had gotten Pepper's and Tony's help in getting dressed for it.

Beside class Clint didn't really talk with Robin again, though they had exchanged a couple looks and smiles as well as traded some barbs.

Though he caught himself thinking about him more often than he would like to admit to anyone.

Clint stopped with his fingers on a button, halting in the middle of the action. It didn't go unnoticed.

“It's okay if you're nervous”, Pepper told him with a smile from where she was sitting on a chair, wearing a nice green dress and her hair brushed to a shine.

“Yeah. It's not everyday that you meet the King and Queen of the country”, Tony added and raised an eyebrow in Pepper's direction when she made a face at him. “What?”

“I'm not nervous”, Clint said and finished fastening his buttons. It was the truth. What he felt was more similar to determination. He didn't quite understand it, but Robin was a distraction and even as the coronation was still five days away, Clint couldn't afford it. He needed to think about something else.

He turned to the full body mirror Tony had in his room and looked himself up and down.

Because of the importance of Family Day for everyone and especially Steve, because he wanted Clint to meet his parents, Tony and Pepper had decided to dress him for this as well. Clint didn't care either way, as long as he could move unhindered.

His hair was combed into some shape courtesy of Pepper. He was wearing a [fancy button down shirt, fancy pants and a fancy vest](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d4/75/a0/d475a047e9acd0b0d5feb4632497373c--jeremy-lee-renner-hawkeye.jpg). Tony had called the colour of the shirt a _royal blue_ and the colour of the pants and vest a _space blue,_ whatever that meant. Apparently it symbolized trust, loyalty and authority. Clint wasn't so sure about that.

A couple buttons were left open at his throat and Tony helped him into a _space blue_ jacket.

It felt comfortable and there was enough mobility, but he didn't look like himself at all. At least the two had _allowed_ him to keep his boots. It was also the only place he could hide two knives with the rest of his clothes being too tight not to see an outline.

“Man, Steve is going to faint at the sight of you.”

“What Tony is trying to so eloquently say is that you look very handsome.” Pepper linked her arms with each of Tony's and Clint's, before guiding them out of the room and on the way to the gathering outside that had already began, though Tony insisted it was best to arrive _fashionably late._

Clint didn't really care.

The gardens were completely filled with people, tables and chairs, food, tents for shade and decoration of which half were flowers. Everything was in bright and light colours, as if intent on making sure everyone knew on which side they were.

Clint scanned the grounds one more time, looking for Nat and Bucky.

Under a stone archway stood a small group just finishing a song and applause filled the place. Onto the archway a banner had been pinned.

_Family Day_

_Goodness Doesn't Get Any Better_

They really needed to think of a different slogan.

As Clint, Pepper and Tony moved closer, the spectators dispersed to different parts and it was easier to see through.

“There are our parents”, Pepper said and nodded towards the buffet where Dorothy and Oz were talking next to thing that looked like it was flowing chocolate.

“I'll go find Steve”, Clint told them when they hesitated and was left by himself with absolute no intention of finding Steve.

As he wandered around people turned to look at him, even went so far to do a double take, and though there were more looks than usual, he didn't attribute much to them.

In the end Scarlet found him first, wearing a white button down and black pants. He was grinning widely and seemed in a really good mood.

“You clean up nicely.” He moved to tousle Clint's hair who dodged it easily, giving the older man an unimpressed look and getting him to laugh in return.

“You've seen Natasha or Bucky?”

“Saw your boyfriend”, Scarlet answered with a smirk and chuckled at Clint's glare. “Come on. I'll show you something you want to see instead.” He slung an arm around Clint's shoulders and pulled him over one of the small pebbled paths winding between the low bushes and flowers until they arrived at a bigger and more open grass field.

The first thing Clint noticed was the targets someone had put up and then he saw the ten men currently taking aim at them with bows. An audience had gathered to watch and it was as silent as it could get.

“It's a tournament the Prince organized when he heard of your archery skills”, Scarlet whispered into Clint's ear. He didn't take his arm away either, but Clint didn't mind that much.

His attention was too occupied with the person he had just spotted. Towards the middle of the line Robin was standing, holding the green bow Kate had given Clint to practice with previously. His whole focus was on the target, his body in a perfect stance, the usual smile gone from his face.

All the arrows were let loose around the same time and the sound of them flying through the air and hitting the targets were like music to Clint's ears.

Robin's had hit the middle of his target.

For two seconds it felt like Clint's brain had fried, until Scarlet took his arm off his shoulders and started clapping together with the other spectators.

Clint swallowed and copied him, telling himself it was because he didn't want to stand out, not because of Robin.

Some guy walked down the targets and wrote something down on his notepad, while the archers were waiting on their spots.

“I'm not holding back because you're a kid, by the way.”

With a frown Clint looked at Scarlet. “What do you mean?”

“What do you think? We're both competing of course.” He laughed at Clint's surprised expression. “Not going to beat Robin, but I'm getting farther than you are.”

Something unknown reared its head inside Clint and his expression turned hard and determined. “I plan on beating Robin.”

Scarlet whistled. “Damn, kid. You got some balls, I tell you that. Remind me of me actually.”

Clint was distracted by a woman holding the thing that had made Steve's voice so loud after the game standing on a small elevation made of dark wood. He immediately recognized her as Kate's mother.

“Now. May the third group step forward and take their positions.” She had a warm voice. What followed was a reading of ten names and their numbers. Scarlet was among them.

“No need to wish me luck”, he winked and clapped one hand onto Clint's shoulder, before heading to the line, briefly greeting Robin and pointing in Clint's direction.

Their eyes met for a brief second, before Robin's wandered down over Clint's outfit. It might have been Clint's imagination, but he thought he saw Robin swallow and barely falter in his steps.

“You look...” Robin stopped and seemed not sure what to say. It was the first time Clint saw him like that. It was weird.

“Ridiculous, I know.” He put his hands into the pockets of his pants, just to have something to do with them that wasn't openly fidgeting.

“That is definitely not the word I would have chosen”, Robin chuckled and shook his head slightly.

Kate's mother signaled for silence and they turned to watch the group draw their bows. Even Scarlet looked absolutely serious which Clint also thought was a first.

The same guy walked down the targets to write down the results.

“You're in the last group.” Robin leaned in, barely entering Clint's personal space who was aware of it in a completely different way than he usually was when someone came too close.

“I don't even have a bow with me.” And even as he wanted to beat Robin and Scarlet as he had announced, now he wasn't so sure whether it was a good idea to make everyone pay him so much attention.

Robin smiled with a wicked glint in his eyes. “Don't move.”

With a frown Clint watched him move towards the elevation and exchange a couple of quiet words with Kate's mother who rolled her eyes fondly and nudged him without any strength behind it.

Then the group of archers fired their third and last arrow and Clint looked over to see how Scarlet had done. Exact middle. He was better than he looked.

Robin came back with Scarlet who was bouncing and looking very excited. In Robin's hand was a kind of box, rectangle and silver.

“This is from us two, Kate and Little John.” Robin opened the lock and Clint pulled his hands out of his pockets, readying himself for anything. But he could have never prepared for the most beautiful dark purple bow resting on black, shimmering fabric.

Clint didn't notice in that moment, but his whole face went slack with awe as he reached out one hand, stopping just short of touching it. “For me?”

“Yes. You deserve it.”

Clint looked up and into Robin's eyes, heart racing in his chest and emotions tightening his chest. This was not good.

“Kate and John are going to be so upset they weren't here.” Scarlet's words pulled Clint out of his trance and he quickly looked back at the bow.

Carefully he grabbed it and pulled it out of the case. “It's absolutely perfect.” He stroked his free hand over the body, brought back to the moment when Kate's mother called out the last group with his name in the tenth position.

Before he could say another word Robin told him to go and Scarlet was practically shooing him. But he couldn't go just yet.

Faster than they realized Clint put the bow onto the case and pulled off his jacket, throwing it into Scarlet's chest and rolling up his sleeves to his elbows. Because he couldn't help himself, he threw them a wink and reveled in Robin's stunned expression as he walked to his spot with his _own bow_ in his hands. He had never felt more powerful as in that moment.

The other nine men in his group were all much older than him and even exchanged mocking and superiors looks among themselves as they saw him. It didn't bother him.

He had tested the string on his way to his position, so he had no problem and hit bullseye with his first arrow.

Applause came from the audience, but Clint didn't look over. If he did, he would get distracted by Robin, he just knew it and he couldn't afford that. He had to sort through whatever was happening with him later.

His other two arrows also landed directly in the middle and the applause was even louder, while all the contestants seemed to realize that Clint was a much greater threat than they had thought.

With a smirk Clint turned and found that Natasha, Bucky, Kate and Little John had joined Scarlet and Robin at some point. Kate and John were clapping enthusiastically with wide grins on their faces, but Nat and Bucky looked worried, though Clint couldn't see any threat at a first or second glance.

“Man, I thought you were exaggerating”, Scarlet whistled and pulled Clint in again with an arm around his shoulders.

“If you continue like this you might actually have a chance at beating Robin”, Little John added and nudged Robin who didn't even look mad at the remark.

“I knew you would excel. Good job.”

Clint couldn't help but smile and he even reciprocated Kate's hug without feeling it to be a burden.

“Can we talk to you for a second?”, Nat asked Clint though it didn't sound like a question. She directed a smile at the others. “Won't take long.” With that she had grabbed Clint and pulled him away far enough not to be overheard by anyone.

“Are you losing it?”, she hissed. “We have a plan. We're going to destroy everyone. Long live evil.”

The words should have snapped Clint out of whatever was going on with him.

“Do you believe that? Like actually believe that?” He didn't know where the words were coming from, but as soon as he spoke them he knew that he had to say them.

Natasha blinked in surprise and exchanged a look with Bucky who was frowning.

“Yes, we have a plan and we're sticking to it, but we have to ask ourselves whether we do it because it is expected of us, because we want something from our parents we cannot have, or because we actually want to destroy _this_.” Clint nodded to everything around them. “Actually want to be called villains. We have to make sure that all what we're doing, being all nice with Tony”, Clint looked at Bucky for that who at least didn't avoid the eye contact though he did look uncomfortable. “And Sam.” This one was for Nat who glared back defiantly. “Is because it benefits the grand plan.” He paused, glanced over to Kate and the three Merry Men for a brief second. “We can't have everything. We have to decide. Our parents and the lives of a villain and what that entails or the lives we have started to build here.”

Neither of them said anything and Clint smiled at them slightly.

“I have to think about it too.” He squeezed both their shoulders. “Later. I have to go kick some ass first.”

Bucky grinned at that and even Nat huffed and pressed her lips together so that she didn't smile, but Clint counted it as a win.

The five archers from Scarlet's group who had advanced just finished their next round and Clint didn't bother going over to the others Kate and Little John first. Robin was over by Kate's mother and Scarlet was joining them, even going as far as bowing to her which she chuckled at, before kissing his cheek. They all seemed weirdly close.

Clint got onto his position and waited for the sign to begin, while his thoughts were occupied with what happened with his friends. He shouldn't have said all that. He should have ignored all that and just get on with their plan. Giving up on their parents, on their freedom, because of some people they had just met sounded absolutely ludicrous.

Yes. It was ridiculous and Clint chose his Mother, he decided as he pulled back the bowstring with the first arrow of the round. The bowstring that was part of a bow these people he had just met had gifted to him because he _deserved it._

Letting out his breath he let the arrow fly and hit the middle of the target.

He had made his decision: Be a villain and do what that entailed. Now he just had to convince his heart of that.

After Clint had finished, Kate's mother announced that they would take a break for everyone to grab some food and relax and by the time the others of his group had put their bows onto a stand close to the elevation and he could put his own there, he couldn't spot anyone he knew. So he just walked back the way he and Scarlet had come and weaved through the people towards the tables with the food.

He just snatched up little things here and there while he was looking for any familiar faces. Just as he reached the end he spotted Steve and Robin a good distance away. They were talking, Steve relaxed in a light blue suit not unlike Clint's, only without the vest and with a white shirt, and Robin with a friendly expression, but there was a slight tension in his shoulders and Clint's jacket hung over his left arm.

Objectively they were probably both considered handsome, though Robin was taller and more experienced with life. Robin was also a fighter, physically and with words, while Steve would most likely try to persuade anyone with his puppy dog eyes and diplomatic words like the prince he was.

Clint's eyes wandered exclusively over Robin, while he nibbled on something that might be some kind of fruit.

Using the green bow had looked so easy when Robin had done it. While Clint didn't have any problem with it too, he still knew how much strength must be hiding underneath the slightly too big clothes Robin liked to wear. Not that Clint had noticed.

And those hands had moved so gently over Clint's arm, even as they had felt a little rough from callouses.

All in all Robin was completely different and at the same time not that much, from all the stories. He was still the man that cared too much for everyone around him (why else would he give Clint a bow and let Kate practice on her own?), choosing a profession that put him in a position to help and made him look soft and mellow, even as his eyes betrayed that.

Honestly Clint would love to fight Robin with both of them not holding back, just to see what would happen, to see whether Robin really was as capable and strong as Clint thought.

Then there were the compliments and the praise. Words Clint had only vaguely read about or heard in a sarcastic tone. Words that seemed as if they had been genuine.

Why? Why was Robin here, confusing Clint, when they were closer to freeing the people on the Isle than they had ever been before? Nothing was going the way it should be.

“You actually really like him.”

It didn't startle him. He was aware of everyone coming and going around him, but he was surprised that anyone would talk to him.

Looking to his right he saw a woman around Robin's age, with blond hair past her shoulders and wearing a flowing blue summer dress. Her face was kind and a smile played around her lips.

“The way you look at him”, she continued, most likely because of his confused face. “It's the same way my husband looks at me. Admiration, respect, warmth and a little bit of pain. Someone very wise once said 'love isn't love unless it hurts a little'.” She winked at him and he looked back at Robin who was still talking to Steve and both hadn't noticed Clint and the woman.

It took Clint an embarrassing amount of time to realize she was talking about Steve and not Robin, but fortunately it wasn't too long to be noticeable.

“I really look like that?” Because he couldn't. There was no way he was falling love. Even less that he was falling in love with Robin. Not that it mattered at all.

“You really do”, she said with a soft smile and sipped from her glass. “To be quite frank, when Steve told us about you, how he had found his soulmate in an orphan from the Isle of the Lost, we were skeptical. No offense, of course.”

“You need to do more than that to offend me.”

Her smile widened. “Steve told us all about how handsome you are and what a sweet thing and how funny and how caring and so on.” Because she threw her son a fondly exasperated look, she missed the involuntary grimace Clint pulled at that. “But I am glad to see you are not such a pushover.”

“That I am definitely not. And I assure you I'm not after Steve's money or status.” It was strange how he didn't even have to lie to her.

“You're good at reading people, aren't you?” She slung one arm around her middle, resting her other elbow on it and taking another sip of her drink.

“It was the next concern you could have.” But he didn't deny it and her smile told him she noticed. She was good too. One of the reason she was still the Queen he assumed.

“How about you join us at our table? I'm sure Steve would be delighted and my husband has a couple more questions for you.”

“As much as I would love to be interrogated, I have to go back to the archery tournament. I have a thief to beat.” He smirked in Robin's direction even if he couldn't see it.

Queen Ella let out quite an undignified snort, but she waved him off. “I see why he likes you. Go. I think I will be watching this.”

With an only slightly mocking bow Clint headed over to Steve and Robin. He used the few steps to compose himself. There had to be nothing on his face and body language except for his attraction for Steve.

“Hey, I was looking for you”, Clint greeted him putting his hand on Steve's arm causing him to beam at him and pull him into a hug.

“Me too. I wanted to watch you in the tournament, but there were so many people that wanted to talk to me.” He looked genuinely dismayed at the missed opportunity.

“The first two rounds are over, but the rest is about to start any time now.” Robin was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes.

“Thank you for holding onto my jacket”, Clint said for lack of anything else and took the garment.

“No problem at all.”

There was a pause and the air between them was heavy and awkward.

Clint couldn't meet Robin's eyes any more and directed his attention to Steve. “Will you walk with me?”

“Of course.” Steve's face went all soft and he linked their arms together, leading them back towards the archery field.

Clint could feel Robin's eyes on his back, but he rather did not know what kind of expression he was wearing.

“I'm so glad we could be alone for a bit. There is something I wanted to tell you.”

“What is it?” Clint let his eyes scan the area. Only a few of the archers were already there and had gotten their bows. Spectators were either talking with an archer or with each other waiting for the tournament to continue. He would like to get his bow as soon as possible.

“I love you.”

They were halfway to the bows when the true meaning of the words hit Clint and he looked over to Steve blinking.

“Uh.” What the hell do you say to the guy that just confessed their love for you, because of a love spell you put on them?

Steve unlinked their arms and took one of Clint's hands instead. “I know it's fast, but I just wanted to tell you. You don't have to say anything.” With a smile he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Clint's cheek.

He just hoped his face wasn't too weird. This was truly ridiculous.

“Go win this thing.”

Nodding Clint stepped back and let Steve keep his jacket. “I will. For you.” That sounded right, right? This whole thing was so complicated.

But for now he didn't have to think about that. He just had to win this tournament which would be easy. Or at least doable.

His fingers wrapped around his purple bow when they started to tingle weirdly for a brief second. It reminded him of when he had touched Mother's spell book for the first time. He pulled the bow away from the stand and the tingle was gone, though when he touched the stand there it was again.

Kate's mother called for everyone to take their places and Clint was distracted.

Out of the corner of his eye only he saw Robin go over and grab his bow, before standing two spots to Clint's left, while Scarlet was directly on Clint's right. Scarlet didn't say anything, but he clapped one hand on Clint's shoulder and winked at him.

This time they would eliminate two people after every three arrows which everyone could shoot at their own time, but they would have to stick inside the target at the same time.

Clint just angled each one differently so they didn't hinder each other while at the same time all hitting the center. No problem at all.

A couple rounds it continued like this and soon there were only ten people left. The two guys between Robin and Clint had been eliminated and they made eye contact, though it felt completely different than before. Was it because of Clint or was whatever he saw in Robin's face not as imagined as he thought?

There were six people left in the competition when it happened.

Clint liked to think that he noticed, because he was aware of everything around him and while that wasn't a complete lie, there was also more to it.

Everyone was on their last arrow of the round and Clint hurried up, so he could watch Robin shoot. Nothing was different about his stance or his focus, but then the arrow started to fly. At first Clint didn't really believe it, but it looked like the arrow was curving and making it's way towards the spectators with increasing speed.

Shouts rose up and it took Clint no time at all to figure out that the arrow was heading right for the Queen and Steve.

If Clint had any arrows left he would have shot it down, but now he just lifted up his leg, pulled his knife and threw it instinctively.

The blade pierced the shaft and pinned it to the last target in the row, mere feet from the next person.

Chaos ensued.

Everyone backed away, screaming, shouting and afraid. Some even went so far as to run away from the field and presumably as far as they could. Even more got the Queen and Steve inside a protective circle even as they didn't look like the royal guard in their colorful light clothes with no weapon in sight. These truly loved their leaders.

They were all talking over each other, but Clint couldn't spot anyone that didn't looked surprised or shocked.

What Clint did know was that it most certainly had been magic. He had felt it over at the bows and there was no other explanation.

Movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention and he barely had to turn his head to see Robin striding over the field straight for the pinned arrow. Scarlet quickly caught up to him and Clint followed right behind.

He couldn't see Robin's face, but his hand was tightened around his bow to the point where his knuckles had whitened. Clint was a little bit worried about him. After all it had been Robin's arrow.

Even though Clint was the last one at the target he was the first to reach for the arrow, only halted by Robin's hand around his wrist.

“That is a bad idea.”

“One of us has to. And I know something that might help”, he added, when it looked like Robin wasn't convinced. “You can't tell anyone, though.” Clint looked at both of the men and Scarlet shrugged, shifting so that Clint was hidden by anyone else automatically.

Robin hesitated for a couple more seconds, eyes flitting all over Clint's face, before sighing and letting go of his wrist.

“Thank you.” Clint smiled at both of them, before he concentrated on the arrow.

All the spells in Mother's spell book had been gathered or she had invented them.

“It's all a matter of intent”, she had always said. “That and magic, of course.”

Clint had already seen that he had magic. It was literally in his blood. So maybe...

Wrapping his right hand around the hilt of his knife he placed his other hand on the arrow. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Who had enchanted it? Who had told it to fly off course? Who was it?

“Tell me”, he whispered and a shiver ran down his back, spreading all over his body for a brief moment. It was already a familiar feeling.

The sharp inhale of the two beside him made him open his eyes again and look forward.

As if someone was writing it, a name appeared on the target. It flickered between black and green and purple until the full name was spelled out and it vanished again.

“That doesn't make sense”, Scarlet muttered and Clint didn't know whether to agree or not.

Clint had been around Loki only once, when they had arrived in Auradon. After that they hadn't shared any classes and he had been just another face in the crowd of all the students.

“You have magic?” Robin's tone was unidentifiable and when Clint looked him in the eyes, he also wasn't sure what he was seeing.

“What can't you do?” Robin closed his eyes for a second and shook his head. “I didn't mean it like that. It's just...” Again he was at a loss for words. Twice in one day. Incredible.

“What my wonderful, emotionally stunted friend is trying to say.” Scarlet leaned over Clint's shoulder and the grin was audible, even if Clint couldn't see his face. “You seem too perfect to be real.”

Clint snorted and wanted to say how absurd that was and why would Robin think that, even as his heart apparently wanted to believe that, when he saw the glare Robin directed at Scarlet. Full of displeasure, but his cheek were slightly turning red from embarrassment. They wouldn't if there wasn't anything to it, right?

There was no time to address any of it, because the Fairy Godmother appeared and shooed them all away, pronouncing herself “the expert of magic” and “the only one who was capable to get to the bottom of this” for the whole kingdom to hear.

Clint exchanged a look with Scarlet who seemed to have the same opinion. What an arrogant woman.

She barked orders around and questions at Robin who answered patiently while Scarlet and Clint stepped back a bit, blending into the background. Scarlet's arm was once again over Clint's shoulders, as they watched nearly everyone flit around the target.

“Why did you choose the Prince?”, Scarlet asked abruptly and Clint frowned at the uncharacteristic seriousness.

“What?”

“I have not seen a single reason for why you chose him over any other possibilities. Say another archer perhaps.”

Clint forced his shoulders to stay relaxed. “Maybe your observation skills aren't what they used to be.” His tone was neutral, bordering on cold. “You may have not noticed, but trying to bring Robin and me together is not going to succeed.” He wouldn't play dumb. He didn't have the patience at that moment. “We may get along, may even be friends, but he is still my teacher and there are absolutely no feelings or otherwise on either side. Understood?”

“There is no doubt”, the Fairy Godmother declared and Clint was relieved for a couple of seconds.

He really didn't want to get even more in depth with this discussion. When he looked over though, Robin was looking at them and Clint pushed away the ball of pain and anger.

“It is most definitely the magic of the Wicked Witch of the West.”

 _Are you fucking kidding me?,_ was Clint's first thought, before his blood ran cold. He was found out. He was found out, because he had wanted to actually help.

A hush traveled through the people.

“The Wicked Witch is on the Isle”, a man stated, but it sounded shaky. No one had forgotten how cruel she had been.

“Yeah, the barrier is still there”, another men said and quickly nearly everyone was adding their own opinion.

“Isn't it obvious?”, a voice cut through the noise with authority and they all turned towards the person.

Clint couldn't help the glare as he saw Loki step forward, shoulders straight and a haughty look on his face. This was not going to be good.

“Thanks to our attacked Prince three villains were able to come to Auradon. One of them was close by and had motive. It's easy.”

“That's ridiculous”, Scarlet protested just as Clint was opening his mouth to do the same. “Clint _stopped_ the arrow and besides, he was never alone. Someone would have noticed.”

Loki sneered. “He is doing it to gain favor with the royal family, obviously. And he used magic to stop it. There is no other explanation why he can hit everything with a bow and knives.”

“I have another explanation for you”, Robin said now and stepped back to Clint's side. “Skill.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest and Clint could only imagine what the three of them looked like. Fierce, intimidating and unbeatable.

Loki's eyes flitted over them for a moment, probably trying to devise a new strategy. It was too bad there was no way he would turn these two against Clint, especially with them having seen Loki's name on the target.

“Then why was the Wicked Witch's magic detected? We all know she was pregnant during the Banishment. Or are you doubting the powerful Fairy Godmother?”

A murmur rippled through the people and the Fairy directed a challenging look at Clint.

 _Yes,_ was his first reaction, but that was definitely not the right thing to say. She already didn't like him. Adding more fuel to the fire was not going to get him out of this. And he had to somehow make Loki reveal that he had been the one enchanting the arrow. All in a day's work.

“That would make me twenty years old, which I am not. Despite that we all know the Wicked Witch's child is dead”, Clint said like it was obvious and Loki was stupid.

Gasps and muttered words were the reaction. Loki's eyes widened and Clint could feel Scarlet and Robin tense next to him, spotting Bucky and Natasha, now standing with Steve and his mother. The Prince looked outraged at all this, most likely courtesy of the love spell, and the Queen looked contemplating. Whether it was in Clint's favor or not, he couldn't say.

“Didn't you all know this? It happened years ago.” Clint was gambling on Auradon not keeping tabs on the Isle, which was more risky now that he knew there was apparently a data bank with the villains' DNA.

“No”, the Fairy Godmother said now, visibly shaky, a hand on her chest. “How unfortunate.”

“Still, the magic is a clear indicator”, Loki interjected, an edge to his voice and Clint suspected he was getting desperate.

“It's my fault.”

Everyone turned and Natasha shrank a little, arms wrapped around her middle and looking devastated.

“I- It was me who brought the Wicked Witch's magic here.” Her voice broke and her bottom lip quivered a little. “I stole the Witch's spell book. It was to prevent her from using it, I swear! When I heard we could come here, I wanted to give it to you, Fairy Godmother. For it to be safe, but...” She hiccuped and blinked her tears back rapidly. “But then I couldn't find it. It was just gone.” A single tear ran down her cheek and she brushed it away hastily. “I'm so sorry.”

“Hush, child. It's okay.” The Fairy Godmother went over and started to console her.

Damn, Clint loved his friend. And he owed her, like she would remind him the next opportunity she got.

Clint used the distraction to step up and into Loki's face. “I know it was you. Why though? You're a Prince as well.”

“You know nothing”, Loki hissed and then abruptly turned and walked away, leaving Clint blinking after him confused.

He hadn't expected Loki to give up this quickly and he was sure it wasn't the last he had seen of him. It seemed he deserved more attention than Clint had initially thought.

“Clint”, Robin said and he turned towards him. Worry and tension was written plainly across his face. His eyes were darting over to Scarlet every now and then. Scarlet who was staring into nothing, face twisted.

“Are you sure? About the Wicked Witch's child?”

Scarlet flinched and he closed his eyes, bracing himself. Looking at him Clint couldn't answer. Why would it matter to him whether or not some kid was alive? Yes, children's deaths were worse than adults (for some reason), but they had never met this mystery kid. It _was_ the kid of the one who had kidnapped him for ten... months ending on Banishment Day.

A terrifying thought hit Clint.

“Are you....” Clint couldn't even say it. It wouldn't come out of his mouth.

Before Robin or Scarlet could say anything Bucky appeared and pulled Clint away, past the people still entranced with Natasha and the Fairy Godmother. Maybe Clint should have put up a fight, but shock was still deep in his bones and he wasn't sure he even wanted the answer to his question.

“Everything just got more complicated”, Bucky muttered under his breath as they slipped around some stone structure and Clint wanted to laugh.

Understatement of the year.

~*~*~*~*~*~

An hour later Clint was standing in the middle of his room concentrating. Bucky was laying on his bed and being totally unhelpful. Technically they were waiting for Nat, but after a bit they got bored just sitting around.

Clint was trying to make the bow appear in his hand with magic from where it sat on the bed in front of Bucky. He had managed to make it fly, but he wanted it to be more like a materialization out of thin air. Handy to do if you were backed into a corner.

At first he was a bit apprehensive to loose the bow in an in between stage, but soon his determination to achieve the task won out. It helped that he most definitely didn't want to think about Scarlet or Robin.

“What do you think our parents will do to us, if we don't pull this off?”

Clint faltered and the purple shimmer in the air disappeared again. “If we get caught and send back to the Isle, they will annihilate us.” He sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed, facing Bucky who straightened up and crossed his legs in front of him. “If we just don't do it, they have to get to us first.”

“Father is not a barrel of laughs, when he doesn't get his way.” Bucky shook his head, fingers tightening and loosing on his legs.

“Are you afraid of him?” Clint was pretty sure the answer should be _no_ to that, because that would be the way it worked with parents.

“Sometimes”, Bucky admitted and added after a moment of silence: “Are you afraid of your mom?”

Clint should say _no._ He should deny it, but it wouldn't be the truth. “She gets so angry with me, when I disappoint her.”

They shared a look, filled with too many things. This was a very dangerous talk to have.

Fortunately Natasha opened the door in that exact moment, her expression changing from distraught to fierce the moment the door closed behind her again.

“I hope I don't have to tell you how much trouble this is going to give us.”

They both shook their heads.

“If we didn't have other things to do, I'd say we focus on Loki and bringing him down.”

“That is the way we did things on the Isle”, Clint reminded her, putting his hands in his pockets. “Whatever game Loki is playing, it has nothing to do with us.”

“False. You changed that when you stopped that arrow. And then you used magic on it. What were you thinking?” Nat advanced getting into Clint's space, but he didn't back down. “You used magic in front of Hood and Scarlet. You nearly got us exposed right then.”

“They trust me. It would take a lot for them to believe I am the bad guy. I'm using it to our advantage.” He ignored her skeptical look. “What I told you two before, about choosing. I did. I'm going to get the wand and shatter the barrier. Because if that is what you're worried about, don't.”

Nat stared at him for a couple of moments, before she sighed. “Of course I am worried. When we were baking the cookies, you said this was our one chance to be the children our parents always wanted. That is the truth. Failing is not an option for us anymore.”

While Clint was still thinking about what to say, Bucky got up from the bed and joined them as the last corner of the triangle.

“No matter what happens, we're still a family. We can't let anything divide us.” Bucky stretched out his arms and a second later they were hugging, foreheads touching.

Even if Clint was against the plan, he would still do it just to save these two.

~*~*~*~*~*~

No one was able to see it, but Clint was hesitant as he entered the Range. He was not the last one, but also not the first. Lester threw him the same old glare.

When Robin spotted him, he came over right away. Clint just let his bag fall to the ground at the wall and shifted his grip on his bow, heart pounding.

“You disappeared so quickly yesterday, I couldn't talk to you after.” There was a worried tone, but also a slight smile.

“With everything that was happening, it seemed like a good idea. Especially with whatever Loki was trying.” Clint gave him what he hoped was an apologetic smile that hid the turmoil inside of him.

Robin frowned. “I don't know what he was thinking, to be honest. Accusing you of being the Wicked Witch's son and attacking the Royal family. It makes no sense.”

“He was just trying to prevent anyone of finding out it was him. Crazy accusations are part of it I guess.” Clint shrugged and got some arrows to shoot.

Robin inclined his head, paused for a moment as if he wanted to say something else, but then moved over to the middle of the range when the last students arrived. Clint definitely wasn't annoyed at them.

Lester was pointedly keeping as far away from Clint as he could, though that didn't stop him from throwing Clint glares and hissing to his friends things Clint could only roll his eyes at. That guy was surprisingly immature.

This lesson was to continue to practice the two new techniques Robin had showed them last time, but because Clint had mastered them by the second attempt there was absolutely no reason for Robin to come over.

He did anyway.

It wasn't to do much, just inquire how Clint was doing with the shots, even going as far as correcting his stance a little. Clint definitely noticed how Robin didn't hesitate to touch him anymore, though he still made sure to do it from where Clint could see him.

It was strangely warming.

At the end Clint was the last to leave, though he honestly couldn't say whether that was because he had done that on purpose or if it was just a coincidence.

“Clint”, Robin called after him just before he was through the door.

He turned, already walking back the direction he had come and Robin was suddenly directly in his space, nearly colliding with him if they hadn't each grabbed the other's arms to steady themselves. They both blinked equally surprised.

The smell of apples and fresh air reached Clint's nose once more and body heat seeped into his hands while their chest barely brushed with every breath. The air felt charged with something Clint couldn't name.

Robin's eyes lowered to Clint's lips for a brief moment and his pupils dilated a little bit. Involuntarily Clint looked down to Robin's lips as well.

He hadn't thought about kissing the guy before, but now...

His first and only kisses had been with Natasha and Bucky, when they decided to see what it was like, so they had kissed each other. They all had agreed that kissing was nice, but it wasn't that amazing with each other. Clint was certain it would be different with Robin.

Robin's grip on Clint's arms tightened only a little bit and the muscles in his shoulders shifted, automatically bringing Clint only that little bit closer, so they were touching nearly all over.

As if looking at it from an outsider perspective Clint watched his right hand wander upwards to rest upon Robin's shoulder and his head tilt forward. He could feel Robin's breath on his face and he was pretty sure Robin was leaning in, too. Clint's heart was pounding loudly in his ears and his palms were sweaty. He shouldn't be so nervous.

Their noses brushed and Clint was already closing his eyes, when, at the last second, Robin turned his head away and pushed Clint away so abruptly that he stumbled a little.

Blinking Clint didn't process what had happened for a few seconds, while Robin shook his head and stepped back even further, rubbing his hand over his face.

“No. No, we're not going to do this.” Robin's voice was resolute and hard, hitting Clint like he had been punched.

Shock, embarrassment and anger at himself made his cheeks burn, as he ran out of there as quickly as he could.

What the fuck was he thinking? What had possessed him that he had thought kissing Robin was a good idea? Clint couldn't believe he had tried to do that.

Despite the obvious reason that Robin did not feel the same way about Clint, there was also the coronation to consider and the fact that Clint was kind of dating Steve and that Robin was his teacher and...

There were a lot.

Wait. _Feel the same?_

Groaning Clint shook his head at himself as he slipped back into the main building. It was thankfully deserted.

It wasn't enough that he was having doubts about nearly everything involved in shattering the barrier, he had to make it even more complicated by maybe falling for Robin who at least wasn't playing any kind of role in the plan, so Clint could properly avoid him from now on.

It wasn't a perfect solution, but it would have to do. It was just for four more days anyway.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

With his arms stretched out Clint was staring into the mirror, his face neutral and his mood on the darker side of things, as Tony and Pepper were pulling fabric here and brushing hair there, talking and moving as if he was just a puppet.

He was fine with that. He had absolute no patience to pretend he was happy about this date or make nice.

Three more days until the coronation. Three more days of staying at this school surrounded by people who have no idea what was going on. Surrounded by people who were all smiles and happy faces.

He also had mixed feelings about Natasha and Bucky not being here with him. As the only ones who knew the truth about the date, they understood, but they also knew Clint far too well not to see what he was really feeling. They were also clever, so it wouldn't take long for them to deduce what had happened.

“We're done”, Pepper announced and Tony tilted his head, considering Clint for a moment, before nodding.

“We're done.”

“What do you think?” Pepper put a hand on Clint's shoulder, smiling at him through the mirror. There was a bracelet on her wrist, a present from her boyfriend. Irrationally Clint hated her a tiny bit more.

Clint's eyes swept over his own boots, his own black jeans and the bright red t-shirt Tony had brought with him that fit Clint perfectly. They also gave him a new black leather jacket that Clint kind of loved.

A scowl started on his face at the mere thought of the word, but Clint quickly stopped it and transformed it into a shy smile. I just hope Steve will like it.” He felt like he died a little inside.

Tony snorted. “That guy will like you in literally anything. He is absolutely smitten with you. Not that I know why.” With a wink Tony nudged his shoulder and then danced out of range as Pepper directed a look of disapproval at him.

Ducking his head Clint hoped they couldn't see the scowl that had managed to appear on his face after all. Clint couldn't think of a reason why anyone would like him for him, too.

As soon as it crossed his mind he wanted to hit himself. Damn, he was pathetic.

There was a knock on the door and the other two were vibrating with their excitement.

Clint went over to the door, because he was practically pushed by the other two and when he opened it Steve was on the other side, beaming as he saw Clint. There were two yellow and blue helmets in his hands. In his white pants, the blue polo shirt and his football team jacket he would have got everyone else to swoon, but Clint was just resigned.

“Hope you like bikes.”

“Passionately.” He could barely stop the sarcasm. With a wave to the other two who were grinning widely he followed Steve outside.

Steve still wouldn't tell him what they were doing and it rubbed Clint the wrong way. He hated surprises. There was no way to prepare for them, though he did have a couple of knives hidden on his person and he had mastered summoning his bow and arrows the day before. He should be fine.

Thankfully the ride on Steve's moped prevented from any conversation and Clint made himself enjoy the fresh air and the nature around them as they drove down a road leading through the forest. Clint had to admit it was kind of pretty.

They stopped a while later next to a partly hidden path that was just dirt and grass only wide enough for one person at a time. They left the helmets and their jackets with the bike and Steve gestured for Clint to go ahead.

“Are you really not telling me about where we are going?”, Clint asked over his shoulder and spotted only a smile, before he had to concentrate on the ground before him.

“You're going to like it, I promise.” Steve touched Clint's back for a moment, before there was a turn in the path.

A couple of feet ahead looked like there would be open space, the sunshine there was more powerful than through the leaves of the trees. The reason was revealed to be a rope bridge. Clint had only seen pictures of one.

Underneath was only open air and trees for a long time and Clint couldn't even see the ground.

Glancing at Steve who nodded Clint slowly stepped onto it and walked across it. It swung, but not violently enough for him to loose his footing. Just for the sake of doing it Clint placed his hands on the side ropes as the made his way across. He could hear Steve only one step behind him.

“Tell me something about yourself that you've never told anyone.”

Clint frowned, automatically shifting through all the information in his head to find something. Anyone was a lot of people. “My middle name is Francis.” That was innocent enough.

“Francis? Wow. That's...” Steve clearly was trying to stop himself form laughing.

Clint turned around and walked backwards a bit, so he could throw him a glare. “Villain parents, remember? Just did what they did best. Being really, really evil.” He rolled his eyes at the smile Steve had on his face again and started to turn around, when he saw what the trees at the beginning of the bridge had kept him from seeing.

A river running through the valley with a couple of pools separated by waterfalls. Half of it was illuminated by the sun and sparkled. Only the faintest sounds were audible this high up, but Clint could see everything. It was relaxing.

The moment was broken by Steve who took his hand, intertwining their fingers.

“We have to go a little bit further.”

Clint just nodded and started to walk again, preventing himself from pushing away Steve's hand with all the self control he possessed.

Five minutes hadn't even passed after they got off the bridge, when Steve stepped in front of Clint taking his other hand too.

“Close your eyes.”

“What?” Clint had to have misheard that. There was no way...

“It's a surprise. I want you to see it at the right moment.” Steve looked at him with his puppy dog eyes and Clint sighed.

“Okay.” He had his other senses to rely on after all.

Slower now they continued to walk and at first it was fine. Steve was still holding Clint's hands, which at first felt just unnecessary, but then they veered off the path and Steve had to guide Clint over branches and uneven ground. It was definitely not something Clint had to repeat anytime soon. He felt way too helpless.

“Watch your foot.”

 _I have my eyes closed, idiot_ , Clint thought, but he stepped over whatever obstacle was on the ground with a tiny wobble.

“You good?” Steve's voice was soft and his thumb was rubbing over Clint's hands. He only nodded.

“Okay. Step up here.” He pulled Clint a little and let go of one hand for the second it took him to get behind Clint. Steve's chest pressed against Clint's back and his breath brushed over the side of Clint's head. Due to him missing a sense Clint was hyper aware of it and automatically turned his head a little towards it. Steve's hands brushed up and down Clint's bare arms a couple of times. If it hadn't been Steve, Clint maybe would have liked it more, though he had to admit it was weirdly nice.

“You ready?” Steve's nose bumped into Clint's temple who just nodded, because he couldn't imagine that _of course, get on with it_ would go over well. “Open.”

Clint did. He had to blink once to get used to the light again, but when he did, he had to stare for a moment.

Down a bit from where they were standing there was a round base made of stone surrounded by still water. A couple of stone pillars were still standing in what must have been a full circle once, but there was one laying in the water half hidden by it and one of the standing ones had broken in the middle for some reason.

On the ground of the stone circle however someone had spread a blanket and there was a basket on it. To the side were also a little table with two chairs. Lemonade was on the table and little things were carefully arranged.

The air sparkled from the sun just the right amount and it looked like it had come straight out of a fairy tale.

In awe Clint let himself be nudged forward and quickly made his way down. As he got closer he could see the pile of stones to the left. They looked like they had been there for a while and parts of a stone pillar were laying in between and on top of it. The lake was surrounded by high trees and natural stone walls on all sides except where the lake went over to a river and disappeared behind more stones.

There was no sound except the forest's and a faint splashing of water.

Clint sat on the edge of the blanket, while Steve laid down on his side supporting himself with his elbow, after he had pulled out some food out of the basket and filled two glasses with lemonade. Clint shouldn't be surprised that it mostly consisted of his favorite foods, but he was.

For a moment the silence was awkward, but then Clint asked how Steve had met Tony and the others. For a while they talked about them, about things they had experienced together and Clint relaxed. As he pushed the fact that this was a date, why they were here and why Steve was enchanted in the first place from his mind, it felt, dare he say, normal. Without Steve mooning over him or trying to show him how much he loved Clint, it was actually a bit enjoyable. Clint wasn't sure why he hadn't seen it in the beginning, but Steve wasn't that bad.

Clint was eating slices of an apple, when Steve didn't say anything for a couple of moments, just looking at him with a warm look.

“You know, we've talked, but it was mostly about me. Your turn. I really don't know that much about you. Tell me something.” Steve leaned forward slightly at his last words, eyes intent and a cheeky smile appeared on his lips for a brief second, before he leaned back again.

Clint frowned a little bit and let his eyes wander around for a second, before he looked at Steve who was just looking at him as if he didn't want to miss a single thing. It was slightly unnerving. “Well.” He had absolutely no idea what to say. “I'm seventeen.” And he already started with a lie. Fabulous. “I'm an only child. Probably.” He smirked a little at that one and earned a huff of laughter for it. “And I've ever only lived in one place.”

“Me too.” Steve's face transformed into delight and teasing. “We have so much in common already.” His smile widened as Clint glared at him a little and rolled his eyes, though he couldn't stop a tiny smile of his own.

There was another moment of awkward silence and Clint said the first thing that came to his mind.

“And now you're going to be King.” Okay, maybe he should have thought about it a little bit more.

Steve's smile fell a little and he lowered his head to look at the ground. It was the first time Clint saw him being less than ecstatic.

“What?”, Clint asked with a tiny frown and Steve looked back at him, no smile in sight with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“A crown doesn't make you a King”, he answered after a moment and Clint raised his eyebrows at him.

“I mean, it kinda does.” Clint smiled when Steve chuckled, before his face turned serious again.

“No, it... You're the son of a pair of villains and I have the poster parents for goodness.”

Clint stopped another frown and wondered where the hell Steve was going with this.

“But we're not automatically like them. We get to choose who we're going to be.” Steve sounded so sure, so convinced of this without any kernel of doubt.

It was similar to thing Kate had told him during their run. _Just because your parents were villains, doesn't mean you have to be one._ Then he had known it was absolutely wrong, but now there was a tiny part of him that doubted.

“And right now”, Steve's blue eyes were so intent and he shifted forward the tiniest bit. “I can look into your eyes and I can tell you're not evil.”

Clint could just stare at him in awe and shock. How could someone have so much faith in the bright side of things? Was it just the spell or was Steve actually this... _good?_

A smile spread over Steve's face for a moment and his eyes flicked to the side to the chair, before looking back to Clint who still didn't know what to say.

“Let's go for a swim.”

Blinking Clint nearly physically startled. “What? Now?” But Steve was already standing and pulling his shirt out of his pants.

“Yeah. Right now.” Steve got to his feet while Clint just shook his head with an uncertain smile.

“I think I'm just going to stay here and watch.” He glanced at the water. The part closest to where they were looked to to be quite flat, but abruptly darkened and Clint could only imagine the depth, though he really did not want to.

“No no no, come on.” Steve offered Clint a hand, presumably to help him off the ground but Clint didn't move except reach over and grab another apple.

“I'm just going to stay here and eat more of these. I really love them.” He bit off a large chunk and made approving humming noises, until Steve chuckled and wandered off.

Clint lost sight of him behind the pillar, but he wasn't concerned as long as he didn't have to go into the water and it definitely helped that the apples Steve had brought with him were a thousand times more delicious than the ones they had gotten on the Isle.

A third of the apple was gone when Clint saw movement in the corner of his eye and he turned his head to see that Steve had gotten on top of one of the stone walls where the lake started to be more of a river, wearing bright blue shorts and nothing else. He was beaming when he saw Clint stand up and lean against one of the pillars. They waved to each other, the sun illuminating Steve's golden hair.

With a loud whoop that echoed a little Steve jumped and curled into a ball just before he disappeared under water with a big splash. Clint had to involuntarily chuckle and roll his eyes.

Clint stayed where he was, watching the ripples on the surface as his thoughts went back to their conversation.

 _We choose who we get to be._ What a naive thought. It didn't matter anyhow. Clint had lied, cheated, stolen and done several other bad things in his life. Not to mention put Steve under a love spell and breaking into the museum in the first twenty four hours he was in Auradon.

No, Steve was wrong. He probably didn't even believe in it. That was just the spell talking.

Though the last hour had been nice. Maybe they would have gotten along even without the spell, but then it wouldn't have been a date. Steve wouldn't have liked him like that and Clint would still have been.... What exactly? Too occupied with Robin?

He didn't call it _in love_ or anything in that direction, because that wouldn't be the truth, but there was something. Not that Robin felt whatever that was.

With a sigh Clint leaned his head back against the pillar to look up into the sky.

Here he was, trying to figure out what he was feeling when it really didn't matter at all. He had a mission to fulfill for Mother and he had to concentrate on that, even if in that exact moment he couldn't do anything about it.

For a brief, stupid moment he imagined deciding to stop this. Stop everything. Tell Robin, Steve, everyone the truth about who he was and find out who his father was. Would they still be nice to him? Would they understand why he had kept it from them? They didn't have to know about the plan to shatter the barrier. No harm had be done.

Except there had been. Clint had used magic on Steve and no matter how good he was, he would be angry about that. Maybe understand, but definitely angry.

He closed his eyes, feeling frustrated.

There was no clear answer. The conflict inside of him was no way closer to being resolved than before. Turning over arguments for and against both again and again wasn't helping at all.

Only then did he notice the quiet.

He opened his eyes again and looked around, straightening up. There was still the faint sound of water splashing and a couple of birds, but nothing that would indicate Steve was around. Now that was thinking about it he hadn't seen the Prince since he had disappeared under water.

“Steve?”, he called out, but silence answered him and fear started to set in.

What if he had hit his head and was unconscious? Or had entangled himself with something and was stuck underwater, drowning?

Without another thought Clint jumped off the platform and into the shallow water. “Steve”, he called out several more times as he waded through, voice echoing in the valley and soaking his pants, though he didn't really notice it.

Then, from one step to the other, there was no more ground and Clint sunk down to his shoulders, still moving forward, but then he realized what he had done. Panic seized him and he flailed, trying to find the ground again with his feet but failing. Water splashed up and he sunk underwater for only two seconds, but it was enough for water to fill his mouth.

Arms grabbed him and lifted him, so his head was back above the surface and he barely registered that he was being moved back the way he had come while he was coughing up the little water that had managed to get into his airway. He was able to stop just as he was set down back onto the stone platform, dripping and still breathing heavily. Steve was still standing in the water, hair plastered to his head.

“You fucking scared me”, Clint growled, hitting Steve's arm, before he looked down at himself and how the clothes clung uncomfortable to his body. If he hadn't been occupied with that or, you know, nearly drowning, he would have noticed Steve's weird expression, like he had just woken up from a dream.

“You.” Steve cleared his throat, frowning and pointing at the stupid lake. “You can't swim?”

“Obviously not”, Clint snapped back, not caring if he sounded harsh.

“But you live on an island!”

Clint turned a look on him that was a mixture of frustration and exasperation. “With a barrier around it, remember? There _is_ no getting off it.” With both hands he pushed back his hair, grimacing at the feeling of it and missing Steve's surprised and contemplating look.

“And you still tried to save me.”

Clint snorted and rolled his eyes at him. “You're welcome.” His tone was cutting and he ignored Steve's slight spluttering as he got up and walked back to the blanket, shoes squeaking with every step.

It sounded like Steve was following him and a second after Clint had sat down again, a big fluffy towel was being wrapped around him and Steve sat down in front of him.

Slowly Clint's anger disappeared and he sighed, relaxing into Steve's hands that were rubbing up and down Clint's arms, shivering only slightly. Clint couldn't meet Steve's unwavering eyes.

“Clint”, Steve said and paused, before continuing. “On Family Day, I told you that I loved you.” There was something in the undertone, but Clint couldn't read it quickly enough. “What about you? Do you love me?”

For a moment Clint studied Steve's face, the genuine curiosity, the lack of fear that the answer might be _no._ Even though Clint could literally say anything and it would be fine, but Clint strangely didn't want to lie to Steve.

Looking down Clint bit his bottom lip and told himself that his hands were shaking, because he was wet. “I don't know what love feels like.” He let out a relieved sigh. It felt like one weight of many had been lifted off him. Saying the truth out loud like this. Because it _was_ the truth. Sure, Mother, Bucky and Natasha were his family, but that was different. The love they were talking about were the stuff of stories involving fair maidens and dashing knights, literally involving Steve's parents. He had no idea how that was like.

Fingers touched his chin and tilted his face up, so that was looking at Steve again.

“That's perfectly okay.” Steve's smile was back, though it was different, friendlier.

“Can we go back now?”, Clint asked after a few moments of silence, teeth slightly clattering. A smile of his own appeared when Steve laughed and nodded, before getting up.

Fortunately Steve had dressed and gathered up everything in only a couple of minutes. Clint would be glad to get out of his soaked clothes as soon as he was able.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“We all know what this looks like.” Clint placed a hand on the drawing of the wand as he looked left and right to Bucky and Natasha. They were all huddled over the table in Clint's and Bucky's room, the spell book to the side and maps and pictures in the middle.

“It will be up on the dais with the King and Queen. We will come in from here and Bucky and I will be up on the balcony, while you will be in the front.” Nat traced the locations with her finger on the map they had made with the information they had gathered over the last two weeks.

“I'm going to find the limo, so we can get back on the Isle with the slippers and the wand.”

“Perfect.” Clint grabbed a little perfume bottle Natasha had snatched from Pepper and handed it back to her. “I filled this with something that will take out the driver. Two sprays and he will be out like a light.” Clint smiled at her, though it didn't feel fulfilling and Natasha's expression was grave as well.

No one said anything else and the air felt heavy with everything that was still unsaid. They should be celebrating, but it seemed that none of them were feeling like it.

Bucky broke the silence first, tapping the table, before going over to his bed and laying down on his back, staring at the ceiling in thought. Clint sat down at the table and opened the spell book on a marked page just as Nat was turning away.

 _How to Break a Love Spell_ was written on top in loopy letters, barely legible.

Clint had read it a couple times by now, but he wanted to make sure he wouldn't make a mistake.

“Clint? You want to break the love spell?”

He looked up at Natasha, a tiny bit startled. “Yeah.” His thoughts were racing. “You know, for after.”

“I don't...” With a small frown Natasha sat down next to Clint, eyes focused on him. He could feel Bucky look over too.

“I've been thinking about when the villains do invade Auradon”, he said it like there was no other option. Because there wasn't. “Begin to loot and kick everyone out of their castles and imprison their leaders and destroy everything that is good and beautiful,” He took a breath and forced his tone back into a nonchalant one. “Steve still being in love with me just seems a little extra...” He shrugged. “Cruel.”

Natasha nodded the tiniest bit, mouthing _yeah._ Her eyes were full of understanding that Clint absolutely didn't want. It felt like all the walls and masks had been stripped away from Clint and he didn't like it.

Quickly he stood up and grabbed the spell book, before fleeing the room and ignoring Nat calling after him. There would have been no use.

They had decided to go down this road and there was no turning back. It didn't matter that all their hearts weren't a hundred per cent in it. Their heads knew what to do.

Clint passed a window and automatically looked outside.

The sun had descended quite a bit and the courtyard was completely deserted except for two figures. Clint immediately recognized Kate and Robin although he could only see Robin's face. They were standing next to one of the extravagant vases with bright yellow flowers in them.

Robin's face lit up with pure joy as he laughed at something Kate must have said and when he looked back at her, there was so much fondness and warmth it made Clint's heart ache. Kate most likely said something else and Robin's lips pulled into a bright smile.

“I love you, too”, he said and put his hands on either side of Kate's face, before leaning in.

Clint's heart stopped and his legs moved him away as quickly as he could.

No. He had imagined that. His eyes had been wrong.

But he knew better. His eyes never betrayed him. They were always right.

 _I love you too._ It echoed in his head even though he hadn't even heard it. A deafening sound that shut out everything else.

How had he been this blind?

Of course now, everything made more sense and Clint wished it didn't.

Every time the two had talked about the other, there had always been that look of love on their faces and they seemed so close.

With a mix of emotions Clint tightened his hold on the spell book as he ran down the corridors.

It was so wrong. She was just a kid and he was a teacher besides. It didn't have anything to do with the way Clint felt about this. It was objectively wrong. But what could he do, when the thought of telling on them made the image of them, grinning in unconditional happiness, appear in front of his eyes?

He couldn't destroy that, never mind that that was exactly what Mother wanted to do.

Trying to distract himself he ended up in the empty kitchen and got started on the love spell breaking chocolate muffin. The movements of adding ingredients and stirring should have helped him clear his mind, but it didn't. Somehow it made it worse.

Robin, Steve, Kate, Mother, Natasha and Bucky. They were all constantly switching up in his head, memories and thoughts.

He stopped stirring, letting the whisk sit in the bowl and he planted both his palms on the counter and bent his head.

It had been so easy at the start, but now. He didn't know what to do. There was no scenario where everyone was happy and satisfied. Someone would be disappointed.

With a shaky exhale he closed his eyes and opened them again, startled. A tear was sinking into the mix he had made. His tear. The first tear he had cried in his whole life.

This place was really changing him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Despite just having spent a couple of hours on the Range, there was still energy left in his limbs. At least his mind was quiet for now. His thoughts had kept him awake long enough last night.

Thankfully Kate had told him that she was going to sleep in for once and take the time to prepare for the coronation that would be in a couple of hours already. He didn't know what he would have done at the sight of her.

The moment he left the Range, he knew there was someone waiting for him, even as he didn't see them at first.

“We need to talk to you”, one of them said and Clint stopped in the middle of reaching for his knife.

“Now is not a good time”, Clint said as he turned to see Scarlet and Little John lean against the wall. He hadn't seen them since Family Day.

They both had dark circles under their eyes and looked severely lacking in energy.

Scarlet stepped closer and pointed at a bench a couple feet away. “Please.”

Clint hesitated, but he already knew he had lost. This could only be better than being alone with his own thoughts. Nodding he walked over, but kept standing as the two men sat down after a moment.

“Since Sunday we've been thinking and talking about what you said. About the Wicked Witch's child.” John took a deep breath. “We want to know everything you know about them.”

With a frown Clint looked back and forth between the two. “Why?” Maybe it wasn't that much better.

Scarlet's reaction on Family Day had given Clint a horrible theory, but John showing up wanting answers, too, created doubt in that theory.

“Before the Banishment, the Wicked Witch was gathering her forces. She wanted to have the ultimate army to strike once and for all. That's why she was kidnapping people everywhere she went.” John took another deep breath, hands rubbing over his thighs. Scarlet took over.

“John and I were on a scouting mission when her monkeys attacked us. Just picked us up and flew us to her lair. I was sure we'll be dead soon.”

Hearing the story from another perspective than the one Clint had heard for years, was a bit disconcerting, but he kept quiet, his fingers playing with his pocket.

“She kept us in a cell for a while, but whenever she wanted a distraction or was bored,” John swallowed, before continuing. “She would get one of us and have her way.”

“Her way”, Clint echoed slowly, feeling suddenly very cold.

“She'd rape us”, Scarlet said bluntly and both Clint and John flinched.

Clint opened his mouth to deny it. It couldn't be possible. There was absolute no way his mother had done such things. That was too horrible even for her.

But as soon as he thought it he knew it wasn't the truth. He knew of her murdering countless of innocent people, transforming others against their will and so many other things. This shouldn't shock him and in a way it didn't.

“We know of no one else who she forced in that time period, though they might as well be hundreds.” Scarlet licked his lips, glancing over at John. “After the Banishment we avoided talking about it for several years. If we didn't acknowledge it it didn't happen, right?” Scarlet snorted.

“There was high chance either of us is the father. Though I can't imagine they want anything to do with us after growing up with the Wicked Witch as a mother.” With a sigh John lowered his head.

“You can help us, Clint, in getting some closure or something. I don't really know, but you and your friends are the only ones from the Isle. You're the only ones knowing about things over there.”

Clint didn't know what to say. His mind was full of different thoughts and possible sentences, but the words just wouldn't come. The best thing would be to just tell them about a fictional child the completely opposite of Clint who had died in an accident or something. The only problem was, Clint didn't want to.

He hadn't spend a lot of time with John, but he had kind of bonded with Scarlet and he liked the other one, too. And now either one could be Clint's father.

Maybe, if they had just asked him without telling him anything about their reasons. Maybe, if hadn't been so damn curious and interested. Maybe he would have just spun some tale and left with absolutely nothing having changed.

“She had a boy. On Banishment Day, shortly after they were trapped on the Isle. Today, twenty years ago.” His voice was hoarse and he cleared his throat before continuing. “She and two other villains, Rumpelstiltskin and the Big Bad Wolf, are the bosses on the Isle and their children are feared, because of that. But they, the children, are intimidating in their own right. They can fight and trick the best of them. They are inseparable.” Clint swallowed. “The Wicked Witch's son... He likes to tour the Isle. Just ran around over and through the buildings, nearly always in motion. He likes to know everything that is going on on the Isle. Everyone knows he should be the most dangerous of the three, but when no one is looking he is always trying to change the lives of the most unfortunate on the Isle.”

Something changed in Scarlet's and John's expressions and Clint realized what he had just revealed.

“That's all I know.” He hiked up his bag higher on his shoulder. “I have to go.”

Too quickly for them to follow, but not quick enough to not hear their calls after him, he left to go hiding from not only the two men, but also everyone else who might wanted to get to him.

He didn't have the patience or the will to put up with all of it with everything that was going through his mind, especially with the coronation being just around the corner and his decision to be evil wavering with every step he took.

~*~*~*~*~*~

There was a knock on the door just as Clint buttoned up the [dark purple vest over the white shirt and a gray tie](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marvelcrossroads/images/c/c0/Jeremy-Renner-looked-dapper-suit-tie-backstage.jpeg/revision/latest?cb=20160613180417). He didn't even pause.

“Come in”, he called out, still looking in the mirror. It could only be either Pepper or Tony making sure he was dressing himself correctly, or Natasha and Bucky who had already completed their task for the day or even someone from the Royal household to fetch him earlier than they had arranged. So it was a bit of a surprise when he glanced up at the sound of the door closing and saw Robin slowly walking farther into the room.

Clint turned around, hands lowering from his vest, mouth forcibly shut. He wasn't sure what he would say if he opened it.

Maybe _What do you want?_ Or _Get out!_ Or perhaps even _Why Kate and not me?_.

Stopping a couple of feet away Robin never looked away from Clint and his expression was serious.

 _Oh, what if Scarlet and John have talked to him?_ , he realized. Well then he was absolutely screwed.

“When I first saw you, you were standing up to Lester.”

Clint frowned a little, shifting his weight. Where was he going with that?

“You were one of the kids from the Isle of the Lost. I didn't know what I expected, but you utterly smashed those expectations.” Robin shook his head, licking his lips. “Even seconds after Lester attacked you, you defended him. You picked up archery like you had done it your whole life. You're loyal and protective and your first instinct is to save.”

This was not going in a direction Clint had thought it would. He also didn't know what to do with it.

Robin stepped closer and Clint stood his ground only because he knew the mirror was behind him and there was no way he was going to get backed into a corner.

“I don't know if I'm making a fool out of myself here, but I thought I would try before the coronation.” What was that emotion on his face? Clint had never seen it before.

With a jolt Clint realized that it was insecurity and Clint's heart started to beat faster. What was happening?

“This is ridiculous on so many levels.” Robin stepped even closer, closer than they needed to touch each other and Clint swallowed, his fingers itching to do just that. “You're my student and literally as old as my son.” That cleared up whether Scarlet and John had talked to him. “And if you're happy dating Steve, I'm not going to sabotage that, but last time we saw each other on the Range, we nearly kissed. Tell me that that was just me and I will leave this alone. We'll forget it ever happened.”

Clint's mouth was dry and he could barely continue looking into Robin's eyes. So those had been Robin's reasons for pushing him away and not the lack of wanting to, as Clint had thought.

“What about Kate?”, Clint asked, his voice rough and his mind cursing him for opening his mouth at all.

A frown appeared on Robin's forehead. “What about Kate? She has nothing to do with this.”

“I saw you yesterday. In the courtyard. You told her you loved her.” It took every ounce of his control to keep his tone neutral.

Now Robin looked utterly confused. “Yeah, of course. I love Lester too, but what does have to do with you and me?”

“Lester? I'm not talking about...” Clint trailed off, pieces slowly clicking together in his head as he made the connection. “Kate is your daughter.” The revelation must have shown on his face or Robin was already too good at reading him, because both of Robin's eyebrows shot up.

“You didn't know?” It was bordering on accusing and Clint glared back, getting weirdly defensive.

“No. Nobody told me!”

If Kate was Robin's daughter, then the moment he had seen was completely innocent.

The wish to kiss Robin was now so strong Clint could feel it in every part of his body, but it wouldn't be right. All the other reasons might be no big deal, but in two hours the villains would start taking over Auradon and everything would be destroyed.

 _What is the harm in enjoying this for just a moment?,_ a traitorous voice in the back of Clint's head whispered and he quickly acted on it, before his reason took over again.

Clint took the last step separating them himself, grabbing the lapels of Robin's jacket and leaning upwards. Their lips met and Clint closed his eyes, just as he felt Robin's hands on his waist, pulling him in instead of pushing him away.

For an undefined amount of time Clint lost himself in all the feelings and sensations, hands going up to Robin's head, aching for the softness of his hair and the warmth of his skin. He didn't want to stop, but eventual the need for air made them part, but they didn't go far. Their foreheads rested against each other has they slowly caught their breaths.

“Steve and I are going to the coronation together, but after that we won't be together anymore.” Clint thought of the muffin in the little box he was going to give the Prince and of their plan to ruin this day for Auradon and felt a pang in his chest.

Robin started to smile and Clint hated himself with a passion.

“But I can't.” Clint clung to Robin for a moment watching the smile transform into confusion again. “I wish I could, but I can't. I'm sorry.” Selfishly he stole another, lingering kiss, committing the moment to memory, before he pulled away just as there was another knock on the door, saving him.

Unable to look at Robin, but still sensing the sadness in the room, Clint quickly gathered up the box for Steve and his jacket, before fleeing the room, nearly running over the employee who looked startled, but didn't comment.

Clint set a brisk walking speed. Maybe he could be fast enough to outrun his heart breaking.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

People were waving tiny flags and throwing pink flower petals, cheering and shouting while they stood on the sides of the road.

Clint still couldn't really believe that he was sitting in an actual carriage pulled by two pure white horses. Steve sat next to him, wearing a formal blue uniform, smiling and waving to the onlookers. Blue and yellow flowers were fastened to the sides of the carriage and onto the horses' harnesses. Just more empty decorations not meaning anything.

He should sit up a bit straighter and smile and wave himself, but he couldn't force his fingers or his eyes off the little box on his lap. This box implicated so much more than just breaking a love spell.

A hand took Clint's right one and laced their fingers together. When Clint glanced up, Steve was smiling at him in encouragement.

“Don't be nervous. All you have to do is stand there and look handsome. I have to do all the work.” He winked and squeezed his hand.

Clint smiled back slightly. “Thank you.”

They fell back into silence where Steve waved and smiled at a couple other people, but didn't let go of Clint's hand. It was weirdly grounding.

“I have something for you.”

Steve looked back at him. “For me?” He looked really surprised, but pleased.

“Yeah. It's just something for later. When you need your strength.” Clint watched Steve fiddle with the box until he got it open. “Something to keep up your energy.”

Steve's expression turned thoughtful for a brief moment, before he smiled at Clint again, looking genuinely happy as he pulled out the chocolate muffin. “Thank you. That's very kind of you.”

Clint smiled, but he also looked away. He didn't deserve any of Steve's kindness, especially fake one.

“But I can't wait.” Steve turned the muffin and before Clint could stop him, he bit into the muffin. Horrified Clint watch him chew and hum.

“This is really good.” Steve nodded, licking off some off his thumb as Clint's eyes darted over his face, trying to find any change that might occur. It could be that it didn't work, but Clint had followed the instructions thoroughly.

“Do you...” Clint licked his lips. “Do you feel okay?”

“Yeah, of course.” Steve grinned and was that amusement?

“Would you say you're still in... that... that you still have strong feelings for me?” Any other time it would have been extremely embarrassing to be stuttering like this, but at the moment he was too focused on Steve and the way he shrugged.

“I'm not sure. I mean, let's give the anti-love potion some time to take effect.”

That made sense and they nodded, Steve looking back to the front just as Clint realized that Steve had said that.

“What?”, he nearly shouted and Steve burst into laughter for a second, before Clint grabbed his shoulder. “You knew?”

“That I was spelled? Yeah, I knew.” He was still grinning and looking far too amused for the amount of panic still coursing through Clint.

“I- I can explain. I...”

Steve shook his head, his face changing into something more serious. “No, it's fine. I already understand. Natasha was going to give me that cookie, because she had a crush on me, but didn't trust that it could happen on its own. Then you got pushed at me accidentally and you were kind enough to play along and not make me look like an idiot in front of everyone until you could give me this.” He tapped the box, now placed in front of them on the other seats. “Am I right?”

“Yes.” Clint laughed lightly, part relief part hysterics. “You're totally right.”

Steve smiled and bumped their shoulders together. Now that Clint knew it wasn't because of the spell, but because Steve wanted to smile, he could see how genuine it really was.

“How long have you known?”

“Our date. The spell washed away in the enchanted lake.” Steve chuckled, letting his eyes wander around. “I must confess, I was pretty angry when I was back to myself, but then you tried to _save_ me and I realized that while you played along around the others that day we had just been us. So, if you want, friends?” He held out one hand and Clint took it after a second of hesitation.

“Friends.” Steve would regret this soon anyway.

Shortly after they reached the steps to the castle. More people were spread out here. One row on each side was wearing yellow and playing trumpets in a fanfare as one of the employees opened the door to the carriage and gave Steve and Clint a hand, so they could get down without falling.

Clint cataloged the security sprinkled throughout the crowd wearing ominous black and constantly moving their eyes all over the place.

A blue carpet had been rolled down the stairs and Steve offered Clint his hand which he took, before they slowly walked upwards. The few people behind the musicians were curtsying or bowing as the two passed them. It reminded Clint too much of what everyone had done in the presence of his mother on the Isle and he was sure the smile on his face was completely weird.

Queen Ella was on top of the stairs, waiting and smiling, looking absurdly proud of her son. Beneath her light blue dress, the glass slippers gleamed on her feet. Next to her was a handsome man, also wearing the Auradon colors, hands behind his back. Even if he hadn't been wearing the crown, Clint would have known that this was the King. Steve's dad.

Clint bowed before them and exchanged a slight smile with the Queen.

“I didn't have the chance to thank you for protecting my family”, the King said, voice deep but kind. “Thank you.”

Clint shook his head, but couldn't say anything.

“When Steve decided to give the next generation a chance by bringing the children of villains over, I told him it wasn't going to be easy, but he insisted. Maybe we were lucky with the first three.” The King smiled at Clint and Steve who beamed at the word _first._

Queen Ella stepped forward and took Steve's hands. “We're so proud of you.”

“Thanks, mom.” He was smiling, but there was a slight nervousness.

“You're going to make a fine King.” Steve's father grabbed and clapped his shoulder for a moment, before he took the Queen's hand and led her off to the next entrance.

Steve directed his attention back to Clint with a smile. “Wish me luck.”

Clint's smile was rueful. Steve would need so much more than luck for what was coming.

Someone behind Clint cleared their throat and he glanced back to see a butler indicate Clint should follow him. With one last look at Steve he did just that.

Clint was led into the massive hall where the actual coronation would take place.

Everything had been made from gray stone and only the yellow and blue Auradon flags gave the room colour, besides all the colorful clothes everyone assembled were wearing. Everyone was talking, seemingly trying to get it all out, before Steve arrived. All the more important people, royalty and the like, were allowed to mingle on the main floor while the rest had to be satisfied with the back and the balconies.

Steve's parents were sitting on two thrones up on the dais. The King's was golden and the Queen's silver. Both backrests had the family crest painted on them. In front of them and in the middle of the dais was a pedestal with the Beast's spell jar that contained the Fairy Godmother's wand.

Clint couldn't think of a single reason why that was in any way a good idea.

As he got closer to the front he saw Dorothy standing not far away, talking with Pepper, Tony and his father, Oz. Like the Queen, she was wearing the ruby red slippers.

Glancing up he spotted Natasha and Bucky. They all nodded at each other in greeting, but there was no mistaking their dark expressions. Clint quickly looked away.

But that only lead to him seeing Robin, Scarlet and John standing not far from where Clint was going to right this moment. They hadn't spotted him yet, turned towards each other.

Scarlet was saying something, but the angle was not good enough for Clint to even read one word off his lips.

Another couple of steps and Clint was on his place, the same time Robin noticed him. The look on his face pained Clint. There was longing and determination and so many other things Clint couldn't name.

 _I know why you think you can't, but I don't care,_ Robin mouthed and Clint kept his own face carefully neutral. There was no way Robin knew of their plans. He wouldn't just _not_ care about villains invading Auradon. That wasn't Robin.

Just then, on some unknown cue, the children's choir on one of the balconies started singing and the rest of the room fell silent. Clint forced himself to keep his hands at his sides and look over to the big double doors that were just being pulled open by another two guys dressed in yellow. Steve stood behind them and slowly started his walk down the blue carpeted path towards the dais. The people he passed bowed and curtsied, but his eyes were fixed on the front. Clint's eyes were fixed on him, because if he looked anywhere else, it would be at Robin and he really didn't need that.

Steve looked good, regal and royal with his head held high and a slight smile when he glanced at Clint and the rest of his friends. He would make a good leader.

Clint felt ill and he hoped no one could see it on his face.

The Fairy Godmother stepped up on the dais in between the King and Queen, exchanging a kiss on the cheek with the Queen in greeting and doing a curtsy for the King, before he lowered his head so that she could take off his crown, just as Steve arrived at the dais.

Steve knelt down on the middle step and Fairy Godmother approached, settling the crown on top of his head gently.

The time was here. Every second now Clint had to step up to grab the wand and get himself and his friends out of there without landing behind bars. He was terrified like he had never been in his life.

Fairy Godmother lifted the crown up as high as she could, presenting it and making the light catch in the precious stones that were in different shades of blue. Slowly she lowered it again and onto Steve's bowed head. He looked up and smiled back at the Fairy, while a pleased murmur ran through the crowd.

Everyone on the dais looked so proud and happy while Clint was working really hard to suppress his panic.

The King grabbed the sides of the spell jar, sparkling with magic and clear gems, and lifted it up, exposing the wand.

 _This is it,_ Clint thought, looking up towards his friends who were both grabbing the banister and looked concerned.

Queen Ella carefully took the wand off the pedestal and presented it to the Fairy Godmother who took it just as carefully and positioned herself directly in front of the still kneeling Steve, flanked by the currently ruling pair.

Two steps forward and Clint could grab the wand. It would be easy. They were all focused on the ceremony. He could see it in his mind. His fingers wrapping around the grip, how he would stop anyone else from reaching for him with a simple flick of his wrist. He already had magic, but the wand would multiply that massively.

He just had to move.

“Do you solemnly swear to govern the people of Auradon with justice and mercy as long as you shall reign?”, Fairy Godmother asked Steve, her voice echoing in the halls so that she could be heard in even the far away corners.

That reign wouldn't be that long _if Clint would just move._

“I do solemnly swear”, Steve vowed with a smile and someone behind Clint whispered something excitedly, before they were shushed.

“Then it is my honor”, Fairy Godmother tapped Steve's right shoulder with the wand. “And my joy.” She tapped the left shoulder. “To bless our new King.” She looked happy, like goodness incarnated, as she held the wand up in the air, still looking at Steve.

This was the perfect moment.

Fingers wrapped around the wand, jerking it from Fairy Godmother's hand and everyone gasped, shock rippling through the crowd.

Clint's heart stopped for a second, watching with wide eyes as the air rippling on the dais and Loki appeared out of thin air. His hair was as slicked back as always, but his outfit was new.

It was all black leather with a few green accents. Dull golden arm guards going from on top of his hands to nearly his elbows and there was more of it on top of his shoulders.

All in all it looked more suited for a villain than a student.

Loki's face was a determined mask, but his hands were trembling slightly and the wand was sparking, moving seemingly on its own. Left and right and left and right, shooting off streams of blue and white light up towards the ceilings, until Loki got both his hands on it and subdued it a little bit.

“Child, what are you doing?”, Fairy Godmother shouted as the King pulled her and Queen Ella behind her. Steve jumped down the stairs and put himself in front of Clint who had been the only one not to back away, though Robin, Scarlet and John joined him, putting Clint behind a wall of protective backs. Fools. All of them.

Loki looked at them all with an expression of haughty disgust as they were all not worthy of being in his presence. He was still struggling with the wand and it ruined it a little bit.

“Years I have endured. Years I watched you all fawn over princes and princesses that don't deserve any of it. I've had enough.” More sparks flew, reacting to Loki's volatile nature. “I'm not going to stay in the shadows anymore. All of you will pay.” He couldn't get the wand under control. He was going to kill them all accidentally and no one was doing something about it.

Instinct more than anything else made Clint move around his human shield and forward, snatching up the wand quicker than Loki could look. It immediately stopped sparking and laid comfortable in Clint's hands.

He had the wand in his hands. After all the planning and doubts, he finally had it.

There was a beat of silence where everyone just stared. The circumstances had changed too rapidly to keep up.

“You”, Loki snarled and lunged forward, but before Clint could even move out of the way, Natasha was suddenly there and sprayed the knock out potion directly into his face, making him faint on the spot.

“Let's go”, Bucky whispered after another pause. “Revenge time.”

He was right.

Clint straightened up and he knew his face became fierce.

Movements in the corner of his eyes caught his attention and he turned to Robin, Scarlet, John and Steve stepping forward as if wanting to get closer. Clint pointed the wand at them and they froze with a surprised expression.

“Stand back”, Clint commanded.

“Clint? What are you doing?”, Robin asked confused and a couple others called Clint's name in the crowd.

Swallowing Clint steeled himself for the looks of realization, of betrayal. “My name is Clint Mader and I am the son of Zelena Mader, the Wicked Witch of the West.”

Another round of shocked gasps and more than a couple backed away even further.

“We have come here to free our parents and to take over Auradon.” Fuck. His voice was shaking, but at least his hands were steady.

“Give me the wand, Clint”, Robin said stepping forward again, looking completely unfazed by the wand being pointed at him again. His eyes were focused on Clint.

“I said, stand back.” It was a growl, but Robin took another step before stopping just barely in touching distance.

“You really want to do this?” He sounded so calm. Like it was just another day on the Range. The thought hurt.

“We have no choice”, Clint said and it sounded hopeless, desperate and a little broken. “Our parents...”

“Your parents made their choice”, Robin interrupted firmly, not wavering. “They made their choice when they stole from people. When they killed people.”

“At the lake”, Steve started and was now walking forward too, stopping next to Robin. “I told you that we're not automatically our parents. That we get to choose who we are going to be.”

Clint shook his head, forcing his hands to still. “You were under a spell.”

“I still mean it. That's the whole reason why I wanted you to come over. To give you all a chance to choose.” Steve looked as earnest as he had at the lake and he wasn't under the spell anymore. This was not because he thought he was in love with Clint.

“The Wicked Witch is not your only parent.” Now Scarlet was walking over, John at his side. “You're at least half good. The choice is yours.”

They were all looking at Clint expectantly. The whole hall seemed to hold their breath. He had no idea what to do.

“What makes you happy?” Now Kate had extracted herself from the crowd and came over. Tony, Pepper, Sam, Rhodey and Bruce right on her heels. “Is it stealing or destroying things? Is it terrorizing people or taking over the world? Or is it using your bow and spending time with us?” She pointed at the little group in front of him and he could feel himself slowly giving in.

She was right. They were all right.

Sure, he enjoyed the occasional time he fought someone physically and came out on top or screwed someone over, but it was all small time stuff and in no way on the scale of what their parents had done.

“I want to go to school.” Learning made him happy. “I want to shoot my bow. Being with my friends makes me happy.” His eyes wandered over their little group. “Hearing about your adventures makes me happy.” This was directed at Scarlet and John, before he looked back at Robin with his absolutely non-judgmental look, his kind eyes and strong hands that could be gentle or ruthless depending on the moment. “Being with you makes me really happy.” It was the most difficult thing to admit, but he was rewarded by a brilliant smile. He smiled back for a second, before turning to Bucky and Natasha. “I don't want to take over the world with evil. It doesn't make me happy.” With a sad smile he shifted his grip on the wand so that he was holding out the handle for either of them to take. “But I won't stop you, because I know what's at stake.”

The tension in the room that had dissipated during his speech was back again in full force.

Natasha was the one reaching out, but instead of taking it she wrapped her hand around his. “I choose good.” There were unshed tears in her eyes and they shared a watery smile, though Clint would deny it until the day he died.

“Just to be clear, we're not going to be worried about how mad our parents are going to be? Because they are going to be really, really mad.” Bucky looked at the two with a raised eyebrow, but Clint could see that his decision had been made too.

“As if they could reach you here”, Tony said from behind Clint, arrogant and playful, but there must have been something in his face, because Bucky genuinely relaxed and let his hand join Clint's and Nat's on the wand.

“Good”, they said together and shared a quiet laugh, that was soon joined by applause from everyone in the hall. There was no blush creeping up into Clint's cheeks. Absolutely not.

Someone stepped up next to him and touched his shoulder blade. Even before Clint looked up he somehow knew it was Robin and as their eyes met, Clint wanted to just lean into the older man, but before he could move, there was a big explosion.

The ground shook underneath their feet making everyone stumble a little.

The next thing Clint heard was the laughter. High pitched, more than a little crazy and all too familiar.

People gasped and shouted when the Wicked Witch crashed through one of the many colorful windows, a trail of green smoke behind her as she flew down in circles and landed in an empty space, close to the still unconscious Loki Clint had completely forgotten about.

The green skin was back and there was a wide grin on her face. Her black cloak swayed in a nonexistent breeze.

“I'm back”, she declared and it was accompanied by another cackle.

“It can't be”, John whispered and his and Scarlet's faces had gone completely pale.

“Go away, Mother”, Clint said, now holding the wand on his own again. Yes, he was afraid of her, especially with her magic back, but he was also determined and protective and these were his friends.

Her eyes went to him and for the first time in his life she looked proud of him. He wished she didn't. “You did it, son. You broke the barrier”, she said as if she hadn't heard him. She sauntered closer, ignoring everyone else and placed a hand on Clint's cheek. “You did so well.”

They were the same height. She had always seemed to much larger in the past.

“I'm serious. Go back to the Isle.” He pushed her away and she stumbled back, a genuinely surprised look on her face, before she laughed again, the sound grating on him and bouncing off the walls.

“You're very funny.” She waved him over to her side. “Give me the wand. Now.” All humor had vanished out of her face.

He didn't have any experience with the wand. He didn't know how to control it, so he did the only thing that made sense. He threw the wand over to the Fairy Godmother who caught without any problem.

“Bibbidi-Bobbidi...”, she started, a serious expression on her face for once as she waved the wand around, but it wasn't fast enough.

“Boo”, Mother interrupted her and without moving a wave of green magic left her and swept through the whole room, immobilizing everyone. Only Natasha, Bucky and Clint were left to move.

Panic tried to crawl up Clint's throat, but he pushed it down. Not all was lost yet.

Mother rolled her shoulders and then slowly started to make her rounds. She nearly tripped over Loki and she threw him a haughty look, before nudging him with a foot. “Pathetic.” Then she started to go to the Fairy Godmother, most likely for the wand, but Scarlet and John caught her eyes and she stopped in front of them. “Oh, my little monkeys”, she murmured, almost tender, as she stroked a finger down their cheeks. “It's going to be fun to have you with me again.”

Clint's stomach turned and thankfully she moved on, though she did grab the wand, twirling it through her fingers.

“Where shall we begin?” A wide grin spread across her face again. “I know.” She directed the wand at Robin. “You stole my monkeys from me. It's time you paid.

Clint stepped in front of Robin before she could do anything. “Stop this, Mother. It is not worth it.”

“Son”, she warned, not pointing the wand anywhere else. “Out of the way at once.”

He didn't move.

“What are you doing? What could he possible be that you would...” She paused, narrowing her eyes at him. “You're in love with him.”

“Mother, whatever happened in the past, it was your choice. Stop blaming everyone else.”

She ignored him again. “Love”, she sneered. “Love is ridiculous and weak. It's not what you want.” She was waving the wand around, more to make a point than to use it for magic and for a moment Clint was relieved.

“How would you know? You never once asked what I want.” How did this turn into that debate? “It doesn't matter anymore. Stop this madness and give me back the wand.”

For a minute she just looked at him, before she shook her head and sighed. “So much potential just thrown away. Pity, but because you still share my blood, I will spare the thief. For now.” She turned her back on them and started walking towards Dorothy and Oz, as if they were absolutely no threat to her.

Angry Clint held out his hands in the right position and a second later in a fit of purple mist his bow appeared in his hands, already ready to release an arrow, while a quiver came to rest against his back.

The Wicked Witch must have felt the magic, because she stopped and turned back around, a frown barely visible under her black hat. Surprise flared up, before she threw her head back and laughed.

“You wouldn't hurt you own mother.” She sounded so sure. “You're not wicked enough.”

He thought about that for a moment. “I am when you threaten people I care about.” The arrow was released and a new one was put on the bow, before the first one hit its mark. Her big hat was now pinned against one of the stone pillars, exposing her while red hair. “Last warning.”

Her face twisted into something ugly and she tightened her grip on the wand and her broom, but before she could do anything, Clint shot of the next arrow, making her drop the wand with a cry of pain. Natasha was already there, quickly catching it and hurrying away again.

“You!” The Witch cradled her hand to her chest, but green magic started to pour out of her as mist. She was not going to stop.

Clint had the next arrow already nocked, waiting for whatever she might do next.

“You will all regret this”, she snarled and pulled her broom in position. It looked like she was going to fly away, but Clint was not going to let that happen.

Hands from different people grabbed his shoulders and Clint could feel Nat's and Bucky's support, could feel it fuel him. For one moment they were one.

They aimed at the Wicked Witch's heart, but they didn't want to kill her. She was evil and murderous, but she was still one of their parental figures for nearly two decades.

So when they let go of the arrow, letting it fly in a straight line directly at her, it was with the intention to stop her, but not to kill.

The arrow flew through the shield the Witch had put up as if it hadn't been there at all and hit its target, her heart. The arrow dissolved bit by bit as if it entered her body.

With a mighty screech she lost her grip on her broom which clattered to the ground. She didn't stop screaming as she seemed to melt, her clothes ending up as a heap where she had stood. The silence afterwards was almost too quiet.

The hands disappeared from Clint's shoulders and they were back to being three individuals.

Slowly Clint approached the heap and knelt down. He hadn't wanted to kill her, but what if his intent hadn't been strong enough to change the nature of the arrow?

There was movement and something wiggled out from beneath the fabric. It was a tiny, bright green snake, hissing at him. He was so stunned he didn't move until someone crouched beside him and put the Beast's spell jar on top of the snake, so it couldn't escape.

“What happened to her?” He was almost afraid of the answer.

“She shrank to the size of the love in her heart. That's why it's so itty-bitty.” The Fairy Godmother smiled at him and put one hand on his arm for just a moment.

“Is she going to stay like this forever?”

“Forever is a long time. You learned to love. So can she.”

Clint looked back at the snake that was now his mother. He hadn't learned how to love. He had been capable of it all his life, just better at hiding it. And most importantly, how could someone learn how to love in that form?

“I believe this belongs to you”, Natasha said and held out the wand for the Fairy Godmother to take which she did after she and Clint got back to their feet.

“All three of you did admirably today. You have more than earned yourselves an _A_ in Goodness Class.”

They grinned and laughed, because it was such a ridiculous thing to say. They had just fought his mother and defeated her, choosing to be good, though they would most likely never be entirely good. They had too much of a mean streak for that, but as they smiled at each other, Clint found he didn't mind.

The Fairy Godmother lifted her wand and swished it around, leaving controlled trails of golden magic behind. “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!”

Everyone unfroze from their state, blinking and swaying a little, leaning on each other for support. Queen and King shared a hug as did a lot of others in the hall, relief and joy at it all being over palpable in the air.

Before Clint could react, he, Nat and Bucky were suddenly surrounded by people in a massive group hug. Clint had to shift his bow out of the way, before it could stab someone in the side, but he laughed with everyone else as he was trapped in the middle.

Someone (Sam?) complained about not getting any air and the pile slowly spread out again, though some groups remained.

So Clint watched fondly as Scarlet- no, Will - and John took turns whirling Kate around, Pepper and Sam hugging Nat while Bruce was next to them, a little more subdued, but still grinning widely; Bucky was being smothered by Tony and Steve while Rhodey watched, though Bucky didn't look like he minded so much.

The last one left joined Clint by the sidelines, close enough that Clint could feel Robin's body heat against his arm. Clint had done so many things today that he had never even thought of doing, that shifting his bow to the other hand, so that he could intertwine that hand with Robin's, was the easiest thing in the world.

“Being with you makes me really happy, too.”

Clint refused to look at Robin as his cheeks heated up with embarrassment. “Let's just forget I ever said a word, okay?”

“Absolutely not.” Robin was laughing a little. “That was almost as nice to watch as you stepping in front of me to save me.” He squeezed Clint's hand who looked at Robin now after all in surprise.

“You saw that?”

Robin smiled at him with a warmth that still felt foreign. “We were frozen, not asleep or dead. I, for one, saw everything that happened. You did a very good job.” He pulled Clint closer, so they hugged, Clint's forehead pressed to Robin's shoulder.

With an inaudible sigh Clint closed his eyes and relaxed. Damn, this was nice.

“You have to promise me that you will never do something like this again, though. I was really worried.” The admission was murmured into Clint's hair, only meant for him. It seemed that it took a lot for Robin to say.

“Let's just hope something like this won't happen again.” Because he couldn't promise that. He was still going to do the same stupid shit if it meant saving his friends.

Before Robin could reply to that, there was shouting and they both looked over. Tony was excitedly jumping up and down waving everyone willing to come over. Behind them security people were escorting a completely dazed Loki away.

“Let's get this party started”, Tony called out and it was echoed by more than a couple people.

Clint could only chuckle as Bucky grabbed him and pulled him along, making his bow and quiver disappear again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time they all had eaten and moved to the after party that apparently took place in one of Auradon Prep's many backyards the sun had gone down. Lights in all kind of colours illuminated the building, the stage someone had built on the grass and every other part of the place. Flags and banners with Auradon's sign and the royal crest were hung up at nearly as many spots. Music was coming through speakers placed strategically to not have a blind spot and there was a long bar with drinks supplied to the side where it couldn't get run over by any too enthusiastic dancers.

Clint was standing up by the banister overlooking the stage and the majority of space. He liked having everything in his view. It allowed him to watch Bucky stumbling through the dance moves Tony was trying to show him, though Bucky was too focused on his feet to notice that Tony was looking for excuses to touch him. The fact that Sam and Nat were basically dancing circles around them made it even more amusing.

But what really was a sight to watch was Kate dancing with Robin. They were both elegant and definitely knew what they were doing. A plus was that they knew each other well and looked like it wasn't the first time they danced together. She even waved at Clint during some move that looked like it should have taken up her whole concentration. Clint was impressed.

“You ever going to come down and join the fray?” Will settled next to him, leaning his forearms onto the stone banister. His cheeks were red from the dancing he had done over the last hour. A lot of females had asked him and he hadn't turned down a single one.

“Seems you got it under control all by yourself.” Clint smirked and earned an eye roll.

“I'm not the one who wants to dance with you.” He pointedly waved and smiled at Robin and Kate who took a break at long last to get something to drink. Kate waved and smiled back, while Robin narrowed his eyes at them for as long as he could see them.

“Do you want to know for sure if either of you is my father?”, Clint asked after a small pause. Maybe not the best topic to talk about at that moment, but he had thought about it for a while and wanted Will's opinion on it.

“Honestly? I don't mind either way.” Will shrugged. “I already care about you. I don't need that confirmation. Besides, you're twenty years old. You don't need someone to raise you. You just need family and I think we all got that covered.” He waved his hand, including everyone that was down there: Clint's two friends from the Isle, the new ones he had made here in Auradon, all the Merry Men that had assembled for the occasion from all kind of parts in the country.

“Yeah”, Clint agreed quietly, allowing himself a small fond smile.

Shouts were audible from below. The Merry Men were raising their drinks and calling for Will to join them. He just waved at them, laughing and rolling his eyes, before turning to Clint.

“So if you want to know, sure, let's do it, but we don't need to.” He clapped Clint on the shoulder, before making his way down the left stairs that would make him got the long way to the group, but led him past Robin where Will slung his arm across Robin's shoulders and pointed up to Clint, while telling him something that Clint had no hopes of hearing. Fortunately he could read lips, so he was trying hard not to laugh as Robin made a face like he wasn't sure whether Will was joking or not alright in the head.

Then someone started a countdown from five backwards and it was enough time for Clint to be confused, before there was a bang in the sky.

He flinched and went into a fighting stance as he looked upwards, thinking for one brief moment that his mother or some other villain had managed to arrive to destroy them all, but it was just colorful sparks and more sounds.

“They're fireworks”, Robin said next to him and Clint startled again, from the sudden appearance and another bang. He really hated it, so he used Robin's appearance as a distraction.

“Just ignore Will. He doesn't know what he is talking about.” Especially because Clint had no idea where he and Robin were standing at the moment.

Robin looked away from the display in the sky to Clint, smile giving way to a more serious expression. “Can we talk about what happened in your room before the coronation?”

Clint nodded, but stayed silent. He didn't know what to say really. When he had kissed Robin he had thought that would be the last opportunity, because soon they would be under the rule of a villain, but now they were all still free and Clint had no prior experiences to compare this moment to.

“The reason why you couldn't _do_ us, was because you were the Wicked Witch's son and the plan you three had, right? Or was there anything else?” Robin took Clint's hand again, intertwining their fingers like Clint had done in the coronation hall.

“We don't really date much on the island”, Clint started, giving him a half smile. “It's more like gang activity.” That put another smile back on Robin's face. “So I don't really know how to do this, but,” Clint swallowed, gathering all his courage and stepped forward, so that their chest were nearly touching. “I want to. I really do.”

His smile softened and his free hand came up to cup Clint's cheek. “Then let's try.” He kissed Clint, soft and lingering and Clint loved it.

“Just remember”, Clint whispered as they parted. “I don't need Will to break your fingers, if you hurt me.”

Robin threw his head back letting out a loud laugh.

 _Beautiful,_ Clint thought, grinning. He definitely could get used to this. _And that._ Robin was pulling him closer again, pressing a couple of kisses on Clint's cheeks and lips, between chuckles and grins.

It was so distracting, Clint didn't notice that the music had been turned off at some point and the fireworks had finished.

What he did notice was people were singing _Happy Birthday_ down on the stage.

Clint just closed his eyes and shook his head. “Please tell me this is not for me.”

Robin was rubbing his hands up and down Clint's arms, but he was laughing. “I think it's nice.” And with that he grabbed Clint's biceps and turned him, so that he had no other choice but look at the people below him, as Robin wrapped his arms around Clint's waist from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder.

Only Clint's actual friends/family were standing on the stage, but everyone else was crowding the stage, though Clint spotted Lester standing by the bar, looking very sullen.

A huge cake had been placed on a table, decorated by purple frosting and strawberries.

“Happy Birthday to you!”, they finished and cheered, clapping and laughing. They all looked like idiots and Clint couldn't be happier.

“Because you gave us not much time to prepare, this is all you get”, Steve called up to him with a bright grin, full of mischief.

“I think you should try it first. Maybe it's enchanted with some crazy love spell.”

Robin snorted behind him.

“A love spell?” Steve scrunched up his face. “No one would think a love spell is a good idea.”

Clint glared at him for a second, fighting a smile, but then he gave up and turned to Robin slightly. “Come with me?”

“Of course.”

Clint was ambushed by more hugs and it took ten minutes for him to get a piece of cake, though it was so good it was worth it.

The music had started and some were dancing again.

With a plate with his second piece of cake Clint stood by the sidelines watching Robin dance with Kate's mother Marian and Kate dance with her step father Fitzgerald, both of which he had met earlier.

Nat and Bucky joined him shortly after with their own pieces of cake and so they stood together in silence, content and happy.

They had started with just the three of them wanting to please their parents, but now... It had turned out to be so much more.

“You look like this is already the end”, Nat noted and nudged Clint. “It's only the beginning.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> For any questions regarding the universe or things I only hinted at and couldn't go into detail for, just ask in the comments or come over to tumblr [here.](https://sarcasticmesswriting.tumblr.com) I'm always happy to talk.


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